Theater of the Mind
by lightblue-Nymphadora
Summary: Some of the harshest effects of war are on children. Two years after the war ends, Ginny is ready to see what they know, and if she can help them. Meanwhile, Tonks is trying to maintain the Wizarding World's sense of security. Ginny/Tonks
1. An Appointment

_**LbN: The saga begins! You all asked for a long Ginny/Tonks fic, so here it is! Since it's so long, it's going to have a lot of different stuff in it. Fluff, drama, tears, laughter...I'm going big this time! Basically, it'll follow both of the girls, each of them getting every other chapter. They'll have their own plots that kind of intertwine in different ways. Hope you like the first chapter! **_

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_**The monsters of the mind are far worse than those that actually exist. Fear, doubt, and hate have hamstrung more people than beasts ever have.**_

_**~CHRISTOPHER PAOLINI, **__**Brisingr**_

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"Are you nervous?" Tonks asked, pulling on her shoe.

"Yeah," Ginny said. "I'm back to the starting line if the kids don't want to talk to me. What about you? Do you have any idea what this new assignment is?"

"None at all. Kingsley's been practically silent about this whole thing. The only thing I know for sure is that Harry's not a part of if, which is odd."

"Not really," Ginny said, shrugging. "Kingsley probably doesn't want the…er…integrity of the Auror department resting on whether or not Harry's a part of it. If this is as big of a project as you think it is, he probably just wants Harry out of the limelight for a while."

"Guess that's true." Tonks grabbed her bag from the table and hugged Ginny. "Just remember to be careful—not only with the kids, but with yourself too. Some of the things these kids have seen…" Tonks trailed off, shaking her head. "Just let yourself take a break if it gets to be too much."

"I will, promise." Ginny gave her a quick kiss. "See you tonight?"

"I think so. If I have to go somewhere, I'll send an owl home."

"Cheers," Ginny said, smiling. She blew a kiss to Tonks before going into the hall and Disapparating.

* * *

Ginny had always thought the name "War Orphans' Home" was a bit blunt, but it told the tale better than anything else. About 60 kids in all now, they had all been found after the war had ended. Some were Muggle-borns who'd been in Azkaban, accused of stealing magic. Others had wizard parents who'd been killed by Death Eaters. And there were other stories as well, which was why Ginny was there.

She rang the bell at the entrance and stood back as a boy, no more than ten years old, answered.

"Hello," he said, smiling. "Welcome to the WOH. May I help you?"

"My name is Professor Weasley," Ginny said warmly. "I have an appointment with Mrs. Longbottom today."

"Yes ma'am," the boy said, standing back to let her enter the building. "My name's Ryan. Are you here to tutor someone? Summer holidays have just started!"

"No," Ginny chuckled. "I'm not that kind of professor. I study people, not books. I learn about how they think, who they are, what they fear…and I try to help them understand themselves better."

"That sounds neat," Ryan said. "So which one of us needs to be looked at? Or are we all touched in the head?"

"Ryan, you're not supposed to bother guests," said another boy, coming around the corner.

"Sorry, Chogan," Ryan smiled. "I was just wonderin'. Here's the office," he told Ginny.

"Mrs. Longbottom should be waiting for you," the boy named Chogan said. "I don't think she's had any other appointments today."

"Thank you," Ginny said, knocking on the door.

A moment later, Hannah Longbottom answered the door. "Morning, Ginny," she said, giving her a hug.

"How are you Hannah?"

"Busy as ever. Come on in, I've made some tea."

The office was small and cozy, the sort of place where, when you walked in, you automatically called to mind your favorite primary school teacher. One wall was covered from floor to ceiling with filing drawers, each with a child's name on it. Some of the names were color coded which, Hannah explained, denoted siblings.

"I keep their records, the ones who have records, at least. The others, I keep their school work and any information about them—medical histories and the like. So, tell me about your plan for this summer."

"I want to do a case study with the older children. I just want to hear what they have to say. If I can, I'd like to look at their memories. I'm going to be up front with them all about what I'm doing, and let them know that they don't have to be a part of this if they don't want to. I'm not planning on using names in the book, but still. If none of them want to be a part of the book, then it will strictly be kept to the research side of how they're coping. More than anything, I want to help them."

"I think it's great that you want their voices heard," Hannah said smiling. "But you should know that it's not going to be as simple as sitting down over a pizza and having a chat. It's not even going to be a matter of getting them to let you sift through their memories. The older children here are very guarded."

"I expected that. I would've been shocked if they weren't."

"Quite. May I ask you something? Why did you wait? It's been two years since the end of the war. I understand wanting to give them all time to adjust, but…I think they needed you then too."

"Right after a traumatic event, sometimes kids shut down. They suppress the memories of what's happened to them. I didn't want to do an extensive study on what they'd been through right then, because I didn't want to force them into it. I want this to be their decision. I don't want to go fishing through their minds on a mission to fix them—they're not broken. I want them to know that they have stories to tell, and that there are people who want to listen."

Hannah nodded. "Well, Minister McGonagall has already approved it of course. I think it's a good idea, but I would like to be kept in the loop."

"Of course. Will you tell me more about the Home?"

"Certainly. Come with me, I'll give you a tour."

They walked down the main hallway and up a set of narrow stairs. "This is the school landing," Hannah explained. "Most of our children are not old enough for Hogwarts yet, so they have classes here. The day care is the last door on the left. Our youngest are two, four and five years old. This next landing," she said as they continued up the stairs, "is the girls' floor. There're five to a room, and each room has a bathroom with two showers, two toilets and a basin. The boys' floors are just above us, with the same set up. The main floor has my office and rooms, the library, the dining hall, and…er…I suppose the best term for it would be the 'time out room'." She smiled seeing Ginny's look. "Some of the children have violent outbursts every so often, and they need some time alone. That's what that room is for."

"I see," Ginny said, nodding.

"Have I scared you off yet?" Hannah asked, leaning against the banister.

"Not at all," Ginny grinned.

"Are you worried at all?"

"Extremely. I don't really know what to expect. But I know that I need to do this, and some of the kids need this as well."

"Too right about that. Well, I suppose we should introduce you to the children. I'll call them down to the dining hall."

Ginny followed Hannah back downstairs. As she listened to Hannah call the children in from their various activities, she wondered exactly what she had gotten herself into. With a steadying breath, she followed Hannah to the dining hall, ready to meet the kids.

_**LbN: Hope you liked it! Send reviews please! There's a new, kind of funny, poll up on my profile about a possible story undertaking :)**_


	2. A Mission

_**LbN: Shout out to Raid Addict CM for being the first reviewer! Thanks mate! The story will start to pick up after this. Here's Tonks's intro chapter!**_

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_**The mind is its own place, and in itself**_

_**Can make a heaven of Hell, a hell of Heaven.**_

_**~JOHN MILTON, **__**Paradise Lost**_

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Tonks walked into the meeting room and voiced what everyone else was thinking. "Bloody hell, they've got us at the round table again."

The round table was only used for the team of super-elite Aurors. True, whenever she sat at it, Tonks had a feeling of smug satisfaction at being one of the best. However, this feeling always went away quickly once their invariably life-threatening mission was spelled out for them.

"This should be interesting," one of the other Aurors, Macbeth, said. He took a seat beside her.

Kingsley came in a moment later and passed around some folders. "Here is your assignment. There are five profiles in your folders, each one showing a Death Eater who is currently at large. We did our best to round them up in the last two years, but these five have eluded us. The first," he said, opening his folder and waiting for the others to do the same. "Rhydian Swanson. A low-ranking Death Eater, but he was in charge of recruitment. Since the fall, he's stayed off our radar except for a few murders. We've come close to catching him once. Currently, our sources say he's on the run in Wales."

Tonks looked down at the picture. The man's hood was up, but she could see bright blue eyes staring from under it. A shock of brown hair was also sticking out. The picture pulled its hood down and a burly man scowled up at her. She turned to the next page and flinched. She remembered this one….

"Magnus Koch. Some of you had firsthand experience with this one," Kingsley said, looking pointedly at Tonks and Macbeth. "Higher up than Swanson, but never in the ranks of Lestrange and Carrow. He was a potions smuggler. We have no leads on him at this time, but he was last spotted in Manchester. The next two, Haley and Emmett Barlow. Twin boys recruited just out of Durmstrang to steal children who'd displayed signs of magic if they had Muggle parents. They're English, but their parents lived in Bulgaria. They've been spotted in various spots around Scotland, but our recon groups traced them to Spain last week. We don't know if the move is permanent yet. And last but not least, everyone's favorite psychopath, Fenrir Greyback. Currently making appearances all over the place, just to screw with us."

Tonks scowled down at the smirking picture. Greyback's case was definitely the most frustrating, since there was no reason he shouldn't be locked up in Azkaban. He'd been knocked out during the battle, but due to the general chaos of that night, he'd been left under the stairs where he'd fallen. No one was sure as to whether he'd woken up, realized his side was losing, and fled, or if he'd woken, been too sick to fight, and skulked off to some hidden corner of Hogwarts until he was able to leave. Either way, he'd gotten away.

"In his time since the Fall," Kingsley continued, "he's killed four families, two of which were Muggles. He's also orchestrated a few more kidnappings for the purebloods who are keeping a low profile, but still support the ways of the Death Eaters. Now, all of these miscreants are the most pressing cases. The murders and kidnappings have to stop. I picked you seven because you've dealt with things like this before, and I know you can handle it. These aren't going to be "Home-in-time-for-supper" cases. You'll be gone for days, weeks, possibly months for some of them. So what I need from you now is your commitment to this. I want you to go to your offices, or home if you prefer, and look over the profiles. All of them have some more information about the Death Eaters. I want you to think about this, whether or not you can handle it, and for Merlin's sake, talk it over with your spouses. I don't want Howlers filling my office when you lot disappear for weeks at a time."

There was a bit of nervous chuckling at this.

"I want your answers on my desk by tomorrow morning at eight. Questions?"

"Why isn't Potter coming with us?" Macbeth asked.

"Harry has…limited experience. I know, I know," Kingsley said when he got a room full of incredulous looks. "Yes, he's seen the worst. But you all have seen the full spectrum, and that's what I need. Harry's still a bit…er…impulsive, because he's used to only dealing with life or death situations. I need a team for this one. He understands."

"Is this assignment going to be sealed?" Tonks asked. "Sealed" assignments were generally top secret. No press under any circumstances.

"Yes. I'm allowing you to tell your families about it because of the time consuming and strenuous nature of the mission. They won't, however, know where you are at any time. And none of the other Aurors are privy to the details."

Tonks nodded, still looking down at Greyback's sneer.

"Any other questions?" When Kingsley was met with seven shaking heads, he nodded. "Fine. You're dismissed."

* * *

By the time Tonks made it home that evening, her mind was spinning with all of the information she'd read. Going over the profiles had been a lot more demanding than she'd thought. Quietly, she slipped into the apartment and tossed her bag on the sofa.

"Hey."

"Hey Ginny," she said, smiling. She practically melted into Ginny's arms when she went to hug her, a fact that was not lost on the redhead.

"Bad day?" Ginny asked.

"Er…challenging day. Challenging day that's going to lead to a lot more challenging days."

"What's going on?"

"Let's get dinner started and I'll explain."

* * *

"I'm glad you're on board, Tonks," Kingsley said the next morning. "The team needs you."

"Glad I can help, Kingsley. When are we leaving?"

"Once I have everyone's answer, we'll start planning. I'll call everyone in this afternoon."

Tonks nodded, ready to get to work.

_**LbN: Hope you liked the chapter, & that I have you hooked :). Reviews are always welcome and appreciated! Poll's still up, if you want to vote. **_


	3. The First Interview

"July 5th," Ginny said into her tape recorder. "Justin Knox—10 years old. Found in hiding the day after the fall. Brought to the WOH by the Auror who found him—Simon McDaniels."

There was still about an hour before the boy would be there. Ginny sat in Hannah's office, one of her notebooks open in front of her. She had one for each child, each book a different color. Five of the older children had already agreed to the five interviews, including, to her surprise, Chogan. She smiled as she remembered his less than thrilled attitude during the assembly.

* * *

"_Assuming enough of you agree to this," Ginny said, wrapping up her introduction speech, "all of the proceeds from the book will go to the WOH. Are there any questions?"_

"_Yeah," Chogan said quietly, raising his hand. "How exactly is this going to help us get adopted?"_

"_Cho—" Hannah began._

"_What? I'm just asking? I mean, even if you don't use our names in your book, or whatever, people are still going to figure out which kids you're talking about. Who's going to want us if they know we're cracked?"_

"_Hannah, it's alright," Ginny said, stopping her friend from scolding Chogan. "It's a good question."_

_Chogan looked a bit taken aback. He had obviously prepared himself for a talking-to. _

"_You're not cracked," Ginny explained. "If anything, I think this book will help people understand what you've been through."_

_Hannah was quiet for a moment before asking, "Who would like to participate?"_

_A girl in the front row raised her hand, followed by the boy sitting next to her. Two more children raised their hands and Ginny nodded. It was a start. "Good. Those of you who raised your hands, come see me. If any of the rest of you want to interview, you can come talk to me. It doesn't have to be today, either. I'll be around for quite a while this summer." She smiled and beckoned to the four kids who'd volunteered. _

_The kids were quiet as they gave Ginny their names, but she didn't press them. They'd have more than enough time to talk. Once everyone cleared out of the cafeteria, she spotted Chogan leaning against a wall in the corner. Calmly, she put her things away and walked over to him. "I'll be back on Monday," she told him. _

_He nodded, playing with the Hufflepuff tie that was knotted at his wrist. "I'll talk to you. After those four go. But if it's dodgy, I won't let any of the little ones talk to you," he warned._

"_Fair enough," Ginny said, nodding. _

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About 20 minutes later, Justin Knox knocked and peeked into the office. "Dr. Ginny?"

"Come on in, Justin."

The boy came in and stood just in front of the door. "What should I do?"

"We're just going to talk today," Ginny said pleasantly. "You know, get to know each other. You can sit in the chair, or lie on the couch, or we can sit on the floor and play a game while we talk."

Justing Knox opted for the third option, and once a lively game of Rock'em Sock'em Robots had started, he was talkative as anything.

"Did you just turn ten this year, or will you be eleven soon?" Ginny asked.

"I'll be eleven on August 17th. I'll be the third kid to go to Hogwarts from the WOH."

"Third?"

"There's an older girl there, a fifth year. Her name's Max. She was adopted already."

"I see. So are you excited about Hogwarts?"

"Yeah! I hope I'm in Hufflepuff with Chogan. What House were you in?"

"Gryffindor," Ginny told him as he decapitated her robot. "But my wife was in Hufflepuff."

He gave her a curious look, but got over it after a second. "Yeah? What's she do now?"

"She's an Auror. So what's your second choice of House?"

"I just want Hufflepuff. With Chogan."

"Chogan's pretty popular around here, isn't he?"

"He's the oldest since Max was adopted. He looks after us."

"Who's the oldest after you?" Ginny paused from the game to stretch her hands and make a few notes in her book.

"Ryan, Cooper, Connie, Baker, Eddie, Nikki, and Jill. They all turn eleven next year. Well, actually Ryan will be eleven in December. But he'll be at Hogwarts next year."

"Wow, Hogwarts is getting lots of new students. So what do you like to do for fun, Justin?"

"I play Rugby sometimes, when the boys want to play. I like to draw. That's it mostly."

"You guys do school here, right?" Ginny already knew the answer to that, but she wanted Justin to do the talking.

"Yeah. We have Arithmetic in the mornings after breakfast, then we have Rec Hour, then it's our language lessons—I'm taking Swahili—"

"Swahili?" Ginny interrupted, taken aback.

"Minister Shacklebolt was visiting and he gave me the idea. I reckon he was joking, but I liked the idea."

Ginny laughed. "So what's after your language lessons?"

"We have thirty minutes of free time. We can spend it in the library, or outside, or doing our chores. Then we have lunch, then Science, History, and Grammar. After that it's free time again, and if we didn't do our chores to begin with, we have to do them then. We have free time until dinner. After that it's homework and then lights out. On the weekends we have activities or sometimes we go on trips."

"Tell me about your chores."

"Ryan and Chogan are Hosts this month. Everyone wants to be a host, because they get to answer the door. That means the parents see them first," he explained. "They also get to help organize activities. I got too many demerits last month, so I'm a Cleaner." He scowled and delivered a decapitating punch to Ginny's robot again.

"Demerits?" Ginny hoped she wasn't actually this bad at the game. She chalked it up to the fact that she was playing left-handed while she took notes with her right….

"For stuff like slacking from our work, or getting thrown into Time Out."

At that moment exactly, there was a commotion in the hallway.

Justin was quite unperturbed. "Like that."

"Someone's going into…er…Time Out, as you call it?"

"Yeah. Sounds like Chogan, but it could be Dylan, his sister." He stood and peeked into the hallway.

Ginny found that, in fact, it was Chogan putting his sister into the room. She looked at Hannah, who was standing back making sure no one was hurt. "Justin, I think we're about out of time. Come back inside."

Justin sat in the chair this time. "What else do you want to know?"

"Just one more question today. When did you know you were a Wizard?"

"I've known all my life. My parents were magic."

"Thank you, Justin," Ginny said, smiling. "We'll talk again next Monday, okay?"

"Right then." Justin hopped off the chair and went back into the hall as the lunch bell rang.

Ginny walked over to where Hannah was having a quiet word with Chogan. The boy looked like he was near tears.

"Go on to lunch," Hannah told him. "His sister's outbursts are a lot more violent than his, but they're less frequent at least. He was there. He got to her before we had to stun her."

"If Chogan's always getting put in solitary confinement, how is he a Host?"

"It's…different with him. He doesn't get sulky and disrespectful like the rest of the kids. He just…loses control sometimes. It's odd, but…." Hannah trailed off, shrugging. "Same time tomorrow?"

"Yes. Nikki wanted to go second."

"Good. I'll see you then."

"See you."

_**LbN: Hope you liked it! Send reviews please! There's only going to be one of these intro interviews, don't worry. **_


	4. Preparations

_**LbN: Chapter4, in which Tonks is referred to as Rainbow Brite... :) Sorry about the wait! I got a job! Expect an update about once or twice a week (I have lesson plans to write). Kind of a slow chapter this time, but it's going to pick up next chapter. Happy reading.**_

Tonks was face first on the ground, stuck in a headlock. It wasn't her fault. She'd heard the bell ring and thought that was it. Maddox was obviously trying to teach her not to get complacent. "Spider," she grunted.

"What?" Maddox asked.

"Spider," she said, trying to blow the wretched thing away from her. It wasn't that she was afraid of them, it was just that a small, sneaky thing crawling across her forehead was the last thing she needed when Maddox had her pinned to the ground.

He panicked and flicked it across the mat.

In his moment of distraction, Tonks took the opportunity to jerk out of his grasp and fling him a few feet away from her. He probably landed on the spider. "As amazing as this fight was, I have to go get something to eat before I pass out." She sat up and spotted Macbeth shaking his head in her direction, and Ginny grinning over at her. "I'm late for lunch, aren't I?" she called.

Ginny nodded. "It's okay. I never get to watch you get your butt kicked, so this was refreshing." She managed to keep a straight face for about two seconds before she broke into laughter at Tonks's indignant look.

"Hey, I _won_, thanks!" Tonks huffed.

"With the help of a small arachnid. My brother would be scandalized."

"A good Auror knows how to use the environment to his or her advantage," Tonks said with a grin. "I simply found a weakness and exploited it. Ready for lunch?"

* * *

Thirty minutes later, after Tonks had run through some soap and water in the Auror locker room, she and Ginny were sitting in a booth at a pub, waiting on their food. Tonks was stalling. Eventually, Ginny would ask why she had been training hand-to-hand, and she didn't think her wife was going to enjoy the answer….

"So who's next? There were five kids who signed up, right?" she asked.

"Yeah. A Muggle-born girl is coming in tomorrow. I think she's one of the ones who were kidnapped off the Hogwarts Express."

"That's got to be hard," Tonks said.

"All of their stories are. How are the plans going? Why were you fighting today?"

Tonks sighed. "It's just that Kingsley wants us prepared in every way. Most of the tactics we used during the war were…er…point and shoot. Getting up close to targets was frowned upon, seeing as we didn't want to be recognized. It's different now."

"Meaning, you're expecting the runaway Death Eaters to fight back in any way they know how?"

"That's the gist of it, yeah. Listen, you don't have to—"

"Don't even start," Ginny said with a smirk. "I'm going to worry, just like you're worried about me delving into the memories of kids. It's pointless to pretend like we're not in for a rough time."

Tonks chuckled. As usual, Ginny was right.

* * *

Tonks stood in line with Maddox, Macbeth, Price, Blakely, Tippin, and Kent, the rest of her team, to get lunch. They'd spent the morning going over ten different variations of plans, all dependent on where Kingsley sent them first. No one talked much, beyond asking for salt or ketchup. They ate silently, lost in their own thoughts about the upcoming mission. They were so distracted, that the recon team managed to sneak up on them….

"Bloody hell!" Tonks shouted as Winston, the captain, clapped her on the shoulder.

"Gotta be more alert than that while you're off gallivanting in Spain," he said.

"Spain? For sure?" Price asked.

"Yep, Zaragoza. Good to see you lot are training hard while we're out doing your dirty work."

Tonks smiled. Most Aurors knew how to put up with the recon department's obnoxiousness. Blakely and Maddox, however, were still pretty junior, and it was evident that they hadn't found a way to cope yet. Tonks was pretty sure one of them was about to punch a recon member, so she spoke up. "Yes, well, I think it's a fair trade off. You do get to sit on your asses while we go round up renegade Death Eaters."

"Get over yourself, Rainbow Brite," Winston said, rolling his eyes. "We had to hunt them down. All you have to do is bring them back, so don't screw it up."

"You wouldn't last five minutes in the field," Maddox snapped.

"We'll see how long you last," Winston smirked. "First real mission, right squirt?"

"I fought in the war!"

"You came as back up after the battle was over—"

"ENOUGH, children!" Tonks said loudly. "Thanks for tracking them down for us," Tonks said, deciding to be the bigger witch. "Let's go team."

Amidst much grumbling and crumpling of paper, they made their way back to the conference room. With a flick of her wand, Tonks summoned the Death Eater profiles. "I'm assuming, since we have a lock on their location, that they're top priority?"

"Kidnappers? Hell yeah," Kent growled.

"Recon graced us with their reports," Maddox said as a folder flew into the room.

Tonks flipped through the file after it unfolded from its airplane shape. "We could be ready in a week, in theory," she muttered. "Who's ready to go nab some kidnappers?"

* * *

It was well past midnight when Tonks made it back to the apartment. She got ready for bed as quickly and quietly as possible. She jumped when she slid into bed and found Ginny partially awake. "Wotcher, baby," she whispered.

"Does the late night mean you're leaving soon?" Ginny mumbled, snuggling into her.

"Couple of weeks."

"Kick some ass." A minute later, she was asleep again.

Tonks smiled up at the ceiling as she fell asleep. She was definitely following that order.

**_LbN: Reviews are much appreciated! Hope you liked the chapter._**


	5. The Second Interview

**Theater of the Mind**

Ginny woke up suddenly and glanced at the clock. It was three in the morning, so why was she awake? She turned over and noticed that the bed next to her was empty. Quietly, she slipped out of bed and walked into the bathroom. She found Tonks there, healing herself from whatever it was that she'd bumped into this time.

"Wotcher," she grimaced. "Did I wake you? I'm sorry."

"It's fine. You're dressed," Ginny said, stating the very obvious.

Tonks threw a few more things into her huge duffle bag before nodding. "Got a Patronus from Kingsley about an hour ago. The recon team that stayed in Spain sent a message back that the suspects have been pretty busy lately. It looks like they're steal a few kids, and then move back to England after the job's done. We've got to bag them before that, or else it'll become an international situation. That's the last thing we need."

"So you're leaving."

Tonks nodded, then smiled. "Don't worry, I was going to wake you up to say goodbye before I left."

Ginny laughed and hugged her. "Do you want breakfast, or are you running out now."

"Running out now," Tonks said sadly, as if she were picturing breakfast and didn't like the idea of leaving it behind. "I'll grab something from the cafeteria before we leave."

"Don't forget," Ginny said with a stern look. "You have to take care of yourself."

"I will, I promise. I'll write, if I can." She pulled Ginny closer and held her there. Both witches were quiet for a long moment, the realness of Tonks's mission hitting them with the force of a well-aimed half brick. Finally, Tonks pulled away slightly, gave Ginny a kiss, a picked up her bag. "Love you," she said, and Disapparated.

Ginny stared at the spot where she'd been for a moment, and then went back into the bedroom. Knowing she wouldn't be able to sleep, she went downstairs to go over her notes for the day ahead.

* * *

"July 6th, Stacia Wiggins-Wainsforth. 9 years old, brought by Aurors to the WOH after being imprisoned at the Ministry." Ginny pulled out her notebook. A quiet knock sounded at the door. "Come in!"

A tiny girl with dark brown hair shuffled into the room. "Hi Dr. Ginny."

"Good morning, Stacia. Come on in. You can sit, lie down, we can play a game while we talk…."

"I'll lie down," Stacia said, hopping onto the couch.

Ginny saw the girl's eyes dart nervously around the room. "Where would you like me to sit? Next to your feet? At the desk? On the floor by the table?"

"That's fine—on the floor."

Ginny sat down. "When did you turn 9, Stacia?"

"In April. April 1st, so lots of kids play tricks on me."

"That's my brothers' birthday. So you'll be at Hogwarts in two years. What house do you want to be in?"

"I don't know. I know my parents were in Ravenclaw and Slytherin…. I think I'll be in Ravenclaw."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not very magical, so probably not Slytherin. I only showed that I was a witch when I was seven. Right before the war got bad. But I'm really smart," she said earnestly. "I can take anything apart and put it back again. And I'm doing math that 12 year olds do."

"Wow!" Ginny said, impressed. "But you never know. Hogwarts has changed a lot over the years. You might be surprised."

"Maybe. Is it true that in the old days only purebloods could get into Slytherin?" she asked.

"Well…more or less. But a lot of half bloods who had every other qualification got in and pretended to be purebloods. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, I just don't think I'd want to be around people who thought like that. My parents told me that blood status shouldn't matter."

"That's very true. And, like I said, Hogwarts has changed a lot. It still is changing, in fact."

"Mrs. Longbottom's husband teaches there."

"That's right."

Stacia fidgeted for a moment, and Ginny waited for her to continue the conversation. Finally, the little girl asked, "Can I show you the things I've made while we talk?"

"Sure! I'd love to see them."

The girl brightened considerably and hopped off of the couch. She took Ginny's hand and pulled her down the hall to the cafeteria, which doubled as a game room when meals weren't being served. "That's a Muggle thing called a television—I fixed it. And that billiards table? I made it," she said proudly. "Whenever one of the lunch table breaks, I fix it. And when our air conditioner broke, I wanted to have a go at it, but Mrs. Longbottom wouldn't let me…."

Ginny followed Stacia around for another fifteen minutes, listening to how she liked to tinker with things and how she hoped she didn't get in trouble for it at Hogwarts. A bell rang and the eight year old turned to Ginny and asked, "Will you stay for lunch?"

Options, options, Ginny thought with a smile. Lunch at home in an empty apartment, or lunch here with the kids. "If it's all right with Mrs. Longbottom."

* * *

It was more than all right. Hannah absolutely beamed when Ginny asked to stay for lunch.

"I don't want to be a bother," Ginny said, "But Stacia asked."

"It's no bother at all!" Hannah said, walking with her to the lunchroom. "The kids…it's good that you're spending some time with them. Not a lot of people do, except as publicity stunts unfortunately. When the only adult contact you have is people looking over you to decide which kid they want to adopt…sometimes they feel like cattle…."

"I expect."

"It's a lot more complicated than that, as we both know, but children see things in black and white a lot of the time. The see an adult come in, adopt someone other than them, and leave. I'm surprised you're having this much luck with the kids. I expected them to be more guarded."

"Don't worry," Ginny said with a chuckle. "When they find out that I want to go surfing through their memories, I'm sure I'll hit a wall or two."

As they passed the Time Out room, as Ginny was starting to call it, she noticed Chogan inside of it, sitting in a corner. "He lose control?"

"He's pretty on top of his freak outs now, even when he's in the middle of one," Hannah said. "He just excuses himself and bolts to the room. His sister's starting to get a handle of it like that."

"How old is she?"

"Eleven. They're a year apart, but they've never talked about their parents. That's why I was so surprised when Chogan agreed to talk to you. I'll have to take his lunch to him. He doesn't look like he's ready to come out yet."

"I'll take it," Ginny said.

"Get out!" Chogan snapped. "I'm not okay right now."

"I just brought you lunch," Ginny said gently, placing the tray on the only table still standing.

"Thank you." The reply was forced, as though pushed through gritted teeth in extreme pain.

"Is it always like this?" Ginny asked him.

"No. Most aren't this bad. Now go!"

Ginny nodded. "Friday's your interview," she reminded him.

"I'll talk to you then," he said, getting the hint that he would have to explain the tantrums.

With one last glance at him, Ginny left the room and went to have lunch with the rest of the kids.


	6. The Third Interview

**Theater of the Mind**

"Hermione! Over here!" Ginny called.

Hermione waddled over, hands on her large stomach. "It's so good to see you, Ginny!"

"We really need to get together more often. How's work?"

"Tedious, what with my newest addition growing all the time," she said, pointing to her stomach.

"Only two more months," Ginny said with a grin. "Have you and Ron picked out names yet?"

"We're thinking Rose for a girl and Hugo for a boy."

Ginny nodded smiling.

After the waiter dropped off their waters and took their orders, Hermione asked, "How is it going at the Home?"

"It's…been interesting. I haven't really started…asking them _real _questions yet. I've just been trying to get to know them. I'm sure next week will be much more…enlightening."

"What's next week?"

"I'm going to talk to them about what they did during the war."

Hermione nodded. After a pause, she said, "Just…be careful Ginny. Don't forget to take care of yourself. This could easily get overwhelming."

"I know," Ginny agreed.

* * *

"Interviews are going well," Ginny said into her recorder. "Even though the kids have been very open so far, I know they are waiting for something bad to come out of this. Have heard through Hannah and their tutors that they have told the other kids of the meetings. Hope this means that they are becoming comfortable with my being here." Ginny paused the tape and took a sip of water. She opened the notebook closest to her and started the tape again. "July 7th, Damien Swafford, 9 years old. Found in hiding." She stopped taping and took notes for another ten minutes until there was a knock at the door.

A boy, tall and skinny for his age, walked in. He had blonde hair, and the kind of expression that made you think of a used car salesman. "Good morning, Dr. Ginny."

"Morning, Damien. I suppose the others have told you what to expect?"

"Yes. May I draw while we talk?"

"Of course!" She handed him paper and a couple of pencils. "How old are you, Damien?"

"9."

"This year or last year?"

"This year. I won't be at Hogwarts for another two years."

"Do you know about the Houses?"

"Yes."

"Do you know which one you think you'll be in?"

"Gryffindor," he said without hesitation.

"That was my family's house."

Damien nodded.

Across the table, Ginny could see a picture taking shape. It looked like a tree—possibly the Whomping Whillow. "Why do you think you'll be in Gryffindor?"

"I'm not super brainy like Stacia. I'm not a sleaze like all the Slytherins…."

It took a lot for Ginny to keep a straight face at this.

"And I'm not quiet enough to be in Hufflepuff. The closest I am to any of the Houses is Gryffindor's big dumb jock style—no offense."

"None taken," Ginny said, smiling. He hadn't even looked up from his drawing when he said that. She looked across the table at the paper. It was definitely the Whomping Willow. "You have a copy of _Hogwarts, A History_."

"Yes."

"New edition?"

"Yeah. Max bought it for me before she was adopted."

"My friend is the editor."

"Hermione Granger."

"She…er…took issue with some of the things in the older version." Ginny glanced across the table at Damien's drawing. It was starting to look weird. There were vines all over the tree for some reason. "So is drawing your favorite thing to do?"

"Yeah. I draw when I'm upset."

"…Are you upset now?" Ginny asked gently.

Damien was quiet for a couple of minutes. "No," he said quietly.

She let him draw for a few minutes without interrupting. Now his picture had more shapes. The entire thing was coming together, and Ginny was seriously worried. The Whomping Willow had bodies dangling from it. "Damien, look at me."

The boy looked up. "What is it?"

"You know you don't have to talk to me if you don't want to. If it's upsetting you—"

"It's not. I'm fine." He scribbled his name at the bottom of the paper, turned it over, and began drawing on the other side.

"Okay," Ginny said. "So tell me about here. What do you like to do with your friends?"

"We play games sometimes. Capture the flag or whatever. I don't play sports."

"Do you not like them?"

"Not with Justin. He'd pulverize me. All of the other boys our age are built like him, so it's safer for me not to play rugby with them." He erased madly for a second and started drawing again. This time it was a cat.

Ginny marveled at the skill he had for a moment. "What's your favorite subject?"

"Art."

Ginny nodded. "Yes, that makes sense. You're good at it."

"Thanks."

"Is there anything you want to talk about? I don't have any more questions for you."

"No, I don't want to talk about anything else. Can I go now?"

"Sure. Can I have that picture?"

"Yeah." He passed it to her. "When's my next meeting with you?"

"Next Wednesday. You always have Wednesdays."

"Okay. Is that book where you take your notes?"

"Yep." Ginny held it up for him to see.

He took it, and a pen from the desk. Quickly he sketched a wand and a pencil on the cover and signed his name in the corner. "See you next week."

* * *

"Oh, Damien's wonderful most of the time. He does get a little…er…frightening when he's agitated," Hannah said as she and Ginny had lunch.

"Well I'd say he was agitated today," Ginny told her, pushing the drawing across the desk.

Hannah looked at it and smirked. "Tame, for him," she said, standing up. She pulled out his drawer and took a file from it. "I'll be interested to know what happened to him during the war," she murmured. "Take a look. All his drawings. He used to keep them on his walls, but they scared the kids."

Ginny's mouth fell open as she thumbed through it. "Hannah…this isn't right. He…needs real help. Do you want me to come here more often and talk to him more? He seemed like he was okay with talking to me."

"I think your plan is going to help him a lot," Hannah said. "And yes, if you think he still needs you after your interviews…."

Ginny nodded and placed the picture of the Whomping Willow inside of the file. Handing it to Hannah, she said, "I'll see you tomorrow."

_**LbN: Hope you liked it! Send reviews please! And don't forget to vote on the new poll! :)**_


	7. Spain

_**LbN: So, as I was writing this, I quickly discovered that there was no WAY I could get all of the patrols into one chapter. So Tonks will have one more chapter, then we'll go back to Ginny. Most of Tonks's abroad experiences are my own :)...Definitely tried to rock a British accent and got told that they were glad I wasn't American. Ahhh, memories... Happy reading!**_

_July 6__th__, 7 a.m., Zaragoza, Spain._

"Hi, I'm Ellie McManus, checking in," Tonks told the lady at the hotel desk.

The woman nodded without looking up. She typed in something on a computer (Tonks recognized it as the same one Arthur Weasley had in his house), and gave Tonks two room keys. "Second floor, eighth and ninth doors to your left."

"Thanks."

She, Maddox, Blakely and Kent dropped their things in their rooms and sent a Patronus to the other team.

"You think it was a good idea to split up?" Blakely asked.

"It's the only way we're going to cover the entire town," Tonks said. "It'll be fine, we just have to stay alert. They're on the opposite side of town, but as long as we're keeping our eyes and ears open, we should be able to sync up if anything goes down. Besides," she said, stowing an extra wand in her back pocket. "Seven people walking around the town? We'll look like tourists—we'll stand out a mile. It's better to be in small groups."

A hazy turtle floated down from the air, and Tippin's voice came from it. "We're checked in as well. We'll be in the city today, if you guys will take the _casco_."

"Looks like we're in for some historic Zaragoza," Maddox said with a grin.

"We're not here to sight-see," Kent grumbled.

"Relax," Tonks said before an argument could break out. "That's not what he meant." She sent a Patronus back to the other team. "Listen," she said, turning to her group. "I know we're all tense, and quite frankly, we should be. We have no idea what to expect from any of the Death Eaters we're chasing, and we're only two years removed from an absolutely chaotic war." She paused for a moment, thinking about how to continue. She was never a motivational speaker…. "The point I'm getting at is, we can't let it get to us. Definitely not this early in the game. We're swinging blind for a while, but Kingsley wouldn't have picked us if he didn't think we could handle it. So everybody, take five minutes just to breathe. Then we'll start our patrol."

* * *

The day was hot. Even though Blakely was currently complaining about it, Tonks saw it as a small favor. Hot meant their perps wouldn't be hiding under jackets and hoodies. Hot meant that there were fewer crowds in the streets to fight through, should they have to chase someone. Unfortunately, there were tons of crowds in the shops. God only knew where the creeps were. "Okay," Tonks said under her breath. "Recon said their patterns are bars in the evenings and churches and playgrounds during the day."

"Slimy gits," Blakely mumbled, pushing her hair out of her face. "Well the other team's got a lock on the playgrounds and parks. I looked at a map, and the big ones are in their area."

"We should still take a look around the smaller ones over here," Maddox suggested. "Crowded tourist area? Perfect place to snatch a kid."

"How do you want to do this, Tonks?" Kent asked.

Tonks ran a hand through her hair and thought. "We'll roam the market. Apparation checks of the nearby parks every fifteen minutes. Not exactly the best plan, but it's all we've got."

* * *

The system worked well, but not well enough for them to catch the brothers. By seven o'clock that evening, Tonks was sweating profusely and extremely tired of Apparating. She and Kent waited in the shade for Blakely and Maddox to get back. When they appeared, Tonks smiled. "Ice cream?"

"They were handing it out for free," Maddox shrugged, handing her a frozen fruit bar. "No sign of either brother, but one mom did say she saw two guys hanging around about two days ago. They left when one of the dads confronted them."

"Good work. Did they ask who you were?"

"Said we were visiting cousins here in town," Blakely told her.

"Look, you lot, I'm starving," Kent said. "Why don't we meet up with the others and grab something? We've been up since an ungodly hour of the morning. Let's eat, take a rest, then head back out for the night patrol."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Tonks said.

They Apparated to a spot by the river. The three others were sitting by a tree, surveying the area. The relaxed visibly when they saw Tonks, Blakely, Kent and Maddox walking toward them.

Tonks was about to say something to Macbeth when something exploded on the tree next to them. "Fu—" Tonks jumped, almost pulling out her wand. She stopped when she saw that it was just a group of teens. The explosion was a tomato. "Bugger off!"

More rotten fruit flew toward them. The teens chased them down the street, yelling things. Tonks prided herself on her gift with languages, but she had to admit that her Spanish was a little rusty. Even so, she could tell that they were calling her things she wouldn't repeat to her mother….

"Enough of this shit," Maddox said. He flicked his wand surreptitiously and the bags of fruit exploded, covering the teens in foul smelling goop.

"Nice shot," Blakely said.

"Alright, let's go get changed at the hotels and meet back up here," Tonks said, wiping rotten fruit juice from her face.

"Why can't we just…?"

"Because we just became a tourist attraction," Tonks said under her breath. "We'll be lucky if people stop staring long enough for us to find a spot to Apparate."

"I know of one," a deep voice said behind them. It was a man in a dark purple shirt. He held out a badge to them. It had a wand on it. "Cordero Guzman, head of the Spain's equivalent to the Auror department. Follow me, please."

* * *

"I must say, you managed to be very discreet whilst executing a not-so-discreet plan," Cordero said, passing out drinks. "May I ask for whom you're searching."

Everyone looked at Tonks. She hated being the leader sometimes…. "Couple of blokes who've been causing some mayhem over on the island," she told him.

"'Blokes' by the name of Haley and Emmett Barlow?" He passed them a file that almost exactly matched the ones they'd been given. "They did some low profile robberies around here, but nothing serious. We turned them loose, but we've been keeping an eye on them. They're mostly active at night, though they have been creeping around playgrounds for the last couple of days."

"So much for keeping this a British matter," Kent muttered to Tonks.

Cordero chuckled. "Trust me when I say, we have no wish to claim them. I have my patrols scouting the city for you. I assume you want them sooner rather than later?"

"That'd be great," Tonks said.

"I don't know where they stay. They've been very good about keeping that a secret. You should go have a meal, relax for a bit. If my men find them, we'll turn them directly over to you. If not, you'll have a couple of patrols to help you tomorrow. May I ask, what is the nature of their crime?"

"Kidnappers."

"Oh dear. Well I see why we want them off of the streets. Here's hoping for the successful apprehension of these rascals," he said, raising his glass. "_Salud!_"

* * *

Paella, sangria, and a really shitty karaoke bar do wonders for the spirit, Tonks decided. She and the others sat, enjoying the small reprieve they had, all worn out from the day. The man on stage was horrible….

"Will it ever stop? Yo, I don't know. Turn off the lights, and I'll glow. To the extreme, I rock a mic like a vandal; light up the stage and wax a chump like a candle…"

Tonks snorted into her drink. "I need some air," she said, still chuckling. The place was fun, but crowded. "See you in a minute." Walking out of the bar, she began prowling the shops along the street. One woman waved her over. "Evening," she said with a smile, hoping the lady spoke English.

"Ah," she said. "British, no American…_bueno_. You enjoy jewelry? _Una oja espiritu_, to keep bad things and bad thoughts away, _si_?"

Tonks looked at the necklace. The pendant was a small circle of blue with two semicircles of crystals around it. It looked a bit like an eye, she supposed.

_To keep bad thoughts away…_

"Sure," she said, paying the woman.

The shopkeeper placed the necklace gently in a box and handed it to Tonks. "_Buenas noches_," she said.

"_Gracias_." Tonks walked back to the bar, where the rest of the team was coming out. She hoped they found the Barlow brothers tomorrow. She couldn't wait to give Ginny her necklace.

_**LbN: Thanks for reading! Send reviews por favor!**_


	8. A Long Day

_**LbN: Sorry I took so long with this chapter! RL went crazy. Happy reading!**_

It already felt like a hundred degrees in the shade at eight in the morning. As Tonks walked through the city, she tried to stay in the shadows. It wasn't working. "I can't take this much longer…" she muttered.

The Apparation points were all under surveillance, but she couldn't help checking in every once in a while—which was every hour, on the hour, for her. She was a little uncomfortable with having a team full of people she hardly knew. The Spanish Auror team didn't seem to take it personally though.

By twelve o'clock, she was starting to fear that the Barlow brothers had vacated Spain. No sightings anywhere, and no suspicious happenings. Tonks ducked into a tiny shop and pulled a drink from the ice box.

There was a large man sweating in the corner next to a dingy table. As she paid, he nodded at her and hit a button on the cash register to make the drawer pop out. "_Gracias_," he grunted.

Tonks nodded at him and walked out quickly. Maybe it was the heat of the day, maybe it was her anxiety about the mission, but she didn't like the way people were looking at her that day. The shopkeeper, in particular, was giving her the willies. The sun was directly overhead as she walked down the street, making her feel like she was under a spotlight. Uncomfortable and hot, she slipped into an alleyway and Disapparated.

* * *

"We're covering the river this afternoon," Maddox said through a mouthful of spiced prawns and rice. "If you go get Blakely, you guys can cover the tourist traps."

"Did you guys stakeout in a certain place or rove?" Tonks asked, stealing a prawn. She hadn't eaten all day.

"Roved the outsides of places. We were somewhat stationed at the entrances and exits but we moved a lot. You might want to try some stationary styles this afternoon."

"Got it. Right, I'll go get Blakely. She's at the first river post, right?"

"Yeah. I'll send a message to Kent to get over there. We're almost done here, so we should be taking over the rest of the posts in a few."

"Wotcher," Tonks nodded, turning to go.

"And Tonks?"

"Yeah?"

He nodded to the food cart a few meters away. "Don't starve yourself."

Tonks smiled and made her way over to the cart he'd indicated.

* * *

"Friggin' chips, Tonks!" Blakely yelped. "Don't sneak up on me like that."

"Keep it down!" Tonks told her. "Kent'll be here in a minute. He's going to take over this post."

"Where are we going?"

"The cathedral and basilica. I see Kent now," Tonk said, watching as Kent walked up the bank towards them. "Let's get going."

They Apparated in a secluded area about a block from the Cathedral of San Salvador la Leo. Tonks was looking forward to this immensely. After strolling around in the sun all morning, being inside was going to be wonderful. She held the door for Blakely and they went inside. After standing in the entryway for a moment, getting used to the change in lighting, they found a pew near the back of the chapel that allowed a visual of most of the area. Tonks quickly cast a movement tracking charm to keep tabs on the areas blocked by pillars.

"How long here?" Blakely asked quietly.

"An hour. This place isn't that full." She checked her watch. It was 12:20.

In fact, the only movement that was taking place was from the priests. The churchgoers were all either kneeling or sitting in pews, same as Tonks and Blakely. It was quiet, and as always happened when she actually had a moment to think, Tonks's mind wandered back to her family. It was the Auror's curse, to worry about your family on a mission. Usually, you didn't have time to on the life-endangering ones—you were too busy trying to stay alive. These types, however—the slow, waiting around for stuff to go down types—were all about keeping your mind occupied.

Tonks glanced at her watch. 12:25.

Most of the time, you managed keeping your mind from…er…drooping… by daydreaming. Harry hadn't understood this when he'd first come on to the program. He'd constantly questioned Tonks on how someone could possibly be alert to danger if their mind was somewhere else. Tonks had tried to explain that thinking about things to keep yourself from panicking or, possibly worse, falling asleep, wasn't really "daydreaming".

Tonks looked down at her wrist. 12:30.

Today, for example, even though she was thinking about having dinner with the Weasleys when she got home, she was still watching the movements of her tracking charm. She knew that a family of four had just walked in and were lighting candles at the feet of the Virgin Mary. She knew that a priest behind her and to her left had just made the symbol of the cross over them—a blessing.

Another time check. 12:35.

You couldn't be still in this line of work, which was just as well for Tonks. Most people though stillness only had to do with the body. Not true at all. It also, and in fact mostly, had to do with the mind. Any child struggling through grammar school could explain that just because they are not looking at the teacher, and could very well be doodling, doesn't mean they're not listening. In the quiet, stationary environment of the classroom, the doodles keep their minds from shutting down due to monotony. That's what a stakeout was….

12:40.

"The man who just walked in," Blakely muttered. She was in a praying stance, keeping track of the feet that entered and exited by them.

"Not him, unless he's a Metamorphmagus." As the morning had been, the afternoon was shaping up to be a very slow affair. She stood and made her way to the altar. As much as she hated using holy places as surveillance grounds, she was already in the church, so she couldn't be doing god much offense. With a deep breath, she watched man, woman, and child light candles and pray.

12:45.

* * *

By 9 that night, tension and frustration was rolling around Tonks's head like boulders. She sat with her head tilted back, listening to Macbeth and Price bicker. After three minutes, she snapped, "ENOUGH!"

The room, already tense, was engulfed in a stillness so complete that anyone walking in would've thought they'd stumbled into a wax museum.

Tonks paused for a moment and took a few deep breaths before speaking. "We have no leads except this one. We haven't found anything, or anyone. We've been gone for two days. Basics of the situation covered? Because we don't need to compound an already frustrating mission, with arguments and bullshit. Everyone go to bed. We're hitting the outskirts of town tomorrow afternoon."

9:07.

"Why the afternoon?"

"Because of their little operation. We've been tracking them like their tourists. They're not. They'll be keeping low, and looking for kids to snatch _away from _all of the madness of the town. The afternoon is when the highest concentration of kids are out playing. Easier to grab someone if their parents are letting them play with a big group, rather than hovering over them. Get some sleep, team."

With muttered agreements the men dispersed. Blakely fell back onto the room's other bed. "I'm going to write for a bit. You can take the shower."

"Wotcher." Tonks rolled off her bed and grabbed her nightclothes. 9:13. With a sigh, she made her way to the bathroom, hoping for better days to come….

**_LbN: Hope you liked it! Send reviews! New poll's up on my profile if you want to vote._**


	9. Alone With Your Thoughts

_**LbN: Shorter chapter this time. Less about the kids and more about Ginny. Happy reading!**_

"July 8th, Nikki Pearson," Ginny said tiredly, writing it on the first page of the notebook. She'd been up half the night reviewing the files of her kids—most of which were annoyingly blank. The lack of sleep was catching up with her. She stifled a yawn as Nikki came into the room. "Good morning, Nikki. Would you like to sit or—"

"I'll sit," Nikki said brightly. "Are you going to write in a notebook for me too?"

"Yes. Is that okay with you?"

Nikki shrugged, still smiling shyly at Ginny. "Can I have one too?"

"A notebook? Sure." Ginny pulled an extra spiral out of her bag. "So, let's get started. Can I ask, why did you switch places? I thought you wanted to go second."

Nikki was quiet for a second. "I got scared. I was going to tell you that I didn't want to go at all, but Chogan talked me into talking to you, just going right before him."

"So you're really close to Chogan?"

"Yeah. We're all really close. He's like a big brother."

"I see," Ginny said, smiling. "Well alright. I was just curious. Tell me a little about yourself. When did you first do magic?"

"When I was five. I levitated some chips off of my dad's plate at dinner…."

* * *

Ginny didn't know how it was possible, but she was actually more anxious than when she'd started this project. She'd thought that once she'd gotten to know the kids, she'd be more comfortable around them, and that was true to a point. However, now that she knew them, she was actually a bit frightened to hear about what they'd gone through. She sighed, went to her closet, and pulled out her Pensieve. She discarded the memory for that day. Normally, when she worked she kept the memories at the forefront of her mind. Normally, though, Tonks was home, and she could talk to her about things that were troubling her. She went back into the living room and plopped down on the couch. She let the dull buzz of the empty apartment fill her ears for a long moment, staring straight up at the ceiling. A voice made her jump.

"I always figured you for a staring at the wall kind of girl," George said, coming out of the fireplace.

"George! Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry sis, but I'm on Mum's orders to kidnap you. Everyone, including Harry and Luna, showed up randomly at the Burrow tonight. So we're making it a family event."

With a smile, Ginny hopped off the couch, relieved to not have to spend another night in the flat alone with her thoughts.

* * *

"So how's the work going with the kids?" Angelina asked as they ate.

"It's going well so far," Ginny said. "I've just been getting to know them. Next week I'm sure it'll be a lot harder."

"You really think so? I mean, if they're talking to you already, it probably won't change right? They obviously trust you a little."

"Sure, but so far they've just been talking about themselves as they are now. I haven't really asked them anything about their families, other than some really preliminary questions. And I haven't made them talk about the war at all. I think they might clam up, or at very least be hesitant."

"I see. Well, if it gets hard, just remember that you're doing something great for these kids. And that you're entitled to a break once in a while."

"Amen," Harry chimed in. "Don't forget to take care of yourself."

"Who'd you work with today? Could you pass the salt?" Luna double-asked.

Ginny handed her the shakers. "A little girl named Nikki. They brought her to the home at the end of the war. She's the head of the Gobstones club at the WOH."

The dinner passed, far too quickly in Ginny's opinion. Once everyone had eaten their ice cream they were feeling very drowsy and ready for bed. Mrs. Weasley walked Ginny to the door. "Are you sure you won't stay?"

"I'm sure," Ginny said, hugging her. "I should be home, just in case Tonks gets back tonight."

"But dear, you haven't even heard from her yet. She could be gone for weeks."

Ginny tried hard not to think about that. "No, I haven't heard from her. But still…" She smiled when she saw her mother starting to glare at her. "Listen, I'll make you a deal. If she doesn't come home tonight, I'll spend the weekend here."

Molly beamed at her. "We'd love to have you! That's fine. Well, then, I suppose you should go and rest."

Ginny nodded. "I'll send you an owl tomorrow. Thanks for dinner; I had a great time."

Molly hugged her once more. "It was no trouble. I'll watch for your owl."

* * *

As Ginny got ready for bed, she began to regret her decision to come back to the flat. It was dumb really. She could've stayed with her parents and made it to work on time. She would've had her mum to talk to, and the house wouldn't have felt so empty. She shook her head to clear it and crawled into bed. Her mind drifted to her task for the next day. She'd have to talk to all of the kids as a group about what they were doing in the next week, but that wasn't what she was worried about. It was Chogan's turn tomorrow. She couldn't figure him out, beyond the fact that he was somehow the "protector". One moment, he trusted her enough to let the other kids talk, and the next moment, he was watching her like a hawk. Hopefully he would be the one to carry the conversation the next day.

**_LbN: Tonks's chapter next! Hopefully I'll have that up by the weekend... Send reviews please!_**

With one last glance at the clock, Ginny turned on her stomach and closed her eyes to sleep.


	10. A Breakthrough

_**LbN: Huzzah! I broke through my wall of writer's block! Enjoy the chapter :).**_

Tonks was trying valiantly to improve her Spanish. She pretended to read the newspaper as she surveyed the surrounding area. All she'd really gotten from it was that it was the 8th of July and that some rich bastard had just donated a ton of money to some charity or another. She stood up from the bench and stretched. Night was approaching, and once again she hadn't eaten properly all day—unless you counted the ice cream cone she'd had somewhere around noon. The bad part of being on the outskirts of town was that there were fewer food carts to choose from. Still, it would be nice to eat in a proper restaurant for once. She located one with a view of the street and went in.

It was the kind of place that brought back memories of her days right before the war had broken out. A noisy, kind of dodgy bar, with tables spread around the rest of the room for the people who needed some food with their drinks. It was the kind of place where you could just sit back and watch people—the kind of place where it didn't matter how many lights were on, or if the sun was shining. It was always a little dark. The patrons were shadowy figures, easy to blend in with, easily forgotten. Men with beards playing cards over their beers. Women showing just a bit too much skin, congregating around the bar. A normal hole-in-the-wall where you could get some pretty decent food.

Tonks slid into a booth by the window so she could still see the street and into the alley a bit. She caught a waiter's eye and nodded. A moment later, she had a glass of water and that day's dinner special in front of her. She pulled a sheet of parchment and a Muggle pen from her pocket. As per her promise to Ginny, she was writing. Unfortunately, she had no idea when she'd get to send it. So far all she'd even written was _Dear Ginny_. How do you explain a mission when you'd done exactly nothing? She sighed, put the unfinished letter back in her pocket, and picked at her dinner.

* * *

"An all-nighter…this is ambitious," Maddox said, yawning.

"Tippin suggested it," Tonks said. It was a little after midnight, and they were patrolling the streets. "Plus, it's not like any of us are going to sleep tonight anyway. We're all too frustrated."

They'd made it back to the cathedral when a ghost-like tiger floated down next to them. "Spotted. Apparate to station ten."

"Holy crap, really?" Maddox yelped.

A second later, the street was empty.

* * *

"Wait for the signal," Kent muttered.

Tonks was battle tense. She could feel her hair flying through colors, and did her best to stay inconspicuous. From across the alley, she saw Macbeth's wand glow blue. She lit her own wand, and from all corners of the square, she saw the team do the same. A moment later, the door was blasted off its hinges and they were inside. Spells of every color were flying. Tonks noticed the brothers going for their wands. "Link!" she yelled. She felt a hand grab her wrist, and she rugby tackled one of the brothers just as he Disapparated.

They fell to the ground in a wooded area. Tonks struggled to her feet just as Haley Barlow sent a hex whizzing past her. She dodged it, tripped over a tree root, and hit her head. "Merlin damn it!" She heard yelling. Focusing for a moment, she created a deep fog around the area. Two dark shapes ran past her. She shot a spell from the ground and caught one. "Over here!"

"Go Emmett!" the one on the ground shouted.

"Got him!" Price yelled, as Emmett fell to the ground a few yards away from his brother.

Tonks struggled to her feet, stumbled, and felt someone catch her. "Thanks," she mumbled.

"Can you make it?" Macbeth asked.

"I think so," Tonks said. "Well done tonight."

Macbeth nodded. "Let's get these blighters back to the Ministry."

"Where are we?"

"No idea. But we're going home. Just hang on to me—I think you've got a concussion. The rest of the team's got them."

Tonks gripped his arm, and a second later felt herself Apparating.

* * *

"Good work, all of you," Kingsley said. "I'll write to Cordero and tell him we've apprehended them. Go home. Get some sleep."

"We should get in there for questioning," Tonks mumbled. She was trying to choke down a potion for her head.

"No. We have them. They're not going anywhere," Kingsley assured her. "Go home. I'm sure Ginny's anxious to see you."

Tonks nodded, checking her watch. It was two in the morning. She stood, finally steady on her feet.

"Better?"

"Yes. We'll start in the morning?"

"Take some of the morning off," he told the group. "We'll start at eleven. Hopefully they'll crack quickly."

"Indeed," Kent said, smiling for the first time in days.

The team put their files away and, saying their goodnights, headed to the Flooing hallway. Tonks yawned and tossed a fistful of green powder into the fire. "Home!" she said.

A minute later, she stumbled out of the fireplace. She caught herself, chuckling. "I really don't need another concussion tonight," she muttered.

She showered and changed in the guest room, so that she didn't wake Ginny. Even though it had only been three days, she was still relieved to be sleeping in her own bed again. As quietly as possible, she slid into bed next to Ginny, glad to be home.


	11. Meeting Chogan

_**LbN: Ha! Only a week between updates, that's pretty good for me :). Hope you like the new chapter.**_

It took Ginny a moment to figure out what was different when she woke up. She gasped but didn't make any more noise when she realized Tonks was asleep beside her. Smiling brightly, she ran a hand through her wife's pink hair before slipping quietly out of bed.

* * *

By the time Ginny was ready for work, she smelled breakfast cooking in the kitchen. "When did you get in?" she asked quietly, wrapping her arms around Tonks.

"Early. Way early," Tonks told her. "When do you have to be in?"

"In about fifteen minutes," Ginny said a little sadly. She wanted stay cuddled on the couch with Tonks, now that the older witch was home. "I could probably—"

"Don't even finish that sentence," Tonks said, smiling. She leaned down, kissed Ginny, and handed her her breakfast. "First, it would throw your entire schedule off. Second, isn't this Chogan's day to be interviewed?"

"Yeah."

"I know you've been dying to talk to him since this thing started. I'll be here when you get home. We're just doing paperwork and interrogation today. Now hurry and eat so you can get to work."

Ginny smiled and dug into her eggs and toast.

* * *

"Morning, Hannah!" Ginny chirped.

"Tonks came home, didn't she?" Hannah asked with a smiled.

"Is it that obvious?"

"Yep."

Ginny laughed. "Yeah, she got back early this morning. Is Chogan ready?"

"He'll be down in a minute. He's been okay today, so hopefully that lasts. If it seems like he's getting…antsy…just send him out. He knows."

Ginny nodded and entered Hannah's office. She pulled out the fifth binder and wrote Chogan's name on it. "July 9th, Chogan Lake, 13 years old," she said into her recorder.

There was a knock at the door, and a second later the WOH's most infamous boy walked in. "Good morning," he said.

"Morning. Do you want to sit?"

"Sure."

"I'm going to record this, and take notes. I'm sure the other kids have told you by now."

"Yeah, they let me know."

"Okay," Ginny said, hitting the 'Record' button. "Tell me about yourself."

"I'm 13. I've got a sister. We both… get a little weird sometimes."

"Can you tell me about that?" Ginny asked gently.

"Can we get to that later?" Chogan asked after a pause.

"Sure. Tell me about your time at school. Do you like it?"

"Yeah, mostly. I'm in Hufflepuff, obviously," he added, lifting the hand his scarf was tied around. "Er…I'm pretty good at Potions and Transfiguration. My favorite's Potions though. I'm in Dumbledore's Army. Professor Longbottom's really fun. And his stories about the war are cool."

"How old is your sister?"

"Nine. She won't be at Hogwarts for another two years. Hopefully someone will figure out what's wrong with us by then…" he added sulkily.

"What do you do at school if you…don't feel well?"

"I'm allowed to leave class and go back to my dorm. When I have an episode, it feels like my skin is shredding off my face," he said quietly. "I just get so mad…I want to kill something."

"And the Healers haven't figured anything out."

"No. They thought we had something wrong up here," Chogan told her, tapping his head. "But the potions they gave us just made us sick and tired. Didn't help the episodes at all."

Ginny nodded.

"Why are you doing this?" Chogan asked. "Why do you want to know about us?"

"I think children see war for what it is," Ginny answered. "Some people think it's necessary, some people think fighting and dying in war is honorable, but kids have the clearest perspective on it. At least that's what I think. Even if I don't end up publishing the book, I want to do this. I want to know what you all know, so that I can help you get through this."

"Have you helped anyone else?" Chogan asked.

"My wife had nightmares for a long time after the war ended. Talking really helped her. And Harry. He just…had trouble being able to relax. He felt a lot better by talking."

Chogan nodded. "I'm glad you're doing this," he admitted. "I didn't really want to talk. I signed up so I could keep an eye on the younger ones. But it's good that you're here. I know Nikki needed someone to talk to. And I don't know what Damien needs, but having you here can't hurt…."

Ginny smiled. "I'm glad you agreed to talk to me. And that you're looking out for the younger ones. That's really good of you."

Chogan shrugged. "I've had to watch out for my sister, so I'm used to it. Can I go?"

"Yes," Ginny said, nodding. "Actually, will you round up the other four and bring them back down here?"

"Sure. It might take a few minutes."

"That's fine." She wrote a few more notes in the book before putting it back into her bag. A few minutes later, five children walked back into the office. "I wanted to talk to all of you before I left for the weekend."

"You're not coming back tomorrow?" Nikki asked.

"No. I'll be back on Monday. We'll go in the same order for the next three interviews. Monday for Justin, Tuesday for Stacia, and so on. If, at any time, you don't feel like talking, or if something has been on your mind and you want to talk about it instead, let me know. I want you all to be comfortable, and I'm here for you."

The children nodded silently.

"Will you still bring Miss Tonks by for lunch next week?" She'd asked the previous day as well.

Ginny nodded. "If she's free, I'll have her stop by on Monday. You can all go back to what you were doing now. I just wanted to let you know about next week."

With waves and a few smiles, the kids made their way out of the office.

Pleased with her work again, Ginny gathered her things and went to talk to Hannah.

**_LbN: Alright! All of the introductions are finished. Now we're going to get to the stories and stuff :). Hope you liked the chapter! Send reviews please!_**


	12. Interrogation

**Theater of the Mind**

Tonks walked into work that afternoon feeling invincible. Something about getting to rest in your own bed was refreshing. Seeing Ginny that morning had helped her mood too. She felt like she could get a confession out of a corpse. Thankfully, she wouldn't have to test that hypothesis. When she walked into the interrogation wing, the Barlow brothers were sitting in one of the rooms, looking smug and very much alive.

"What's going on?" she asked Kent as she walked up.

"The young'uns wanted a shot at the Barlows," Kent explained, grinning. "I let them go first. You can see that they're…er…novices."

"Let me have a go?" Tonks offered.

"Of course," Kent said, tapping on the glass.

A second later, Maddox and Macbeth came out. "Have at 'em," Maddox said.

Tonks smirked and went inside the interrogation room. "Afternoon gents," she said, grabbing a chair. "Look, I'm tired, and I'd really rather be at home. That said, I'm not going to bullshit you. You two are sleaze balls. Even without the Dementors, Azkaban's going to be hell for you. Exactly how miserable your stay will be, depends on whether or not you tell us anything useful."

"Piss off, slag," Emmett said, still smirking.

"'Kay," Tonks said, shrugging. She stood up and walked around the table, suddenly yanking Haley up by his handcuffs. "I can see you need some time to think about it, so we'll leave you alone. Anything you want to say, you'd better say it now. You'll be in different rooms in Azkaban. Different floors probably." The brothers were silent, but Tonks was happy to see that their smug expressions had been replaced with slightly nervous ones. "Nothing?" she asked. "Alright then." She began pulling Haley out of the room.

"Wait!" Emmett boomed. He tried to stand, but he was enchanted to the seat. "If we give you information, will you let us stay together in Azkaban?"

Tonks shrugged and opened the door, passing Haley to Maddox. "We'll see." As Maddox put Haley into another interrogation room, Tonks walked back over to the group. Kingsley was there by now. "What do you think?" she asked him.

"I think your cruel side is showing," Kingsley said.

Tonks smiled. "Well if they're going to be bastards, maybe splitting them up will make them take us a little more seriously. Which one will flip first?"

"From the way Emmett's still struggling to follow his brother, I'd say him," Blakely said.

"Let's do this then," Kent said.

"You and Tonks take Emmett," Kingsley said. "Maddox, Blakely, you take Haley."

Tonks smirked at Kent, and the two of them walked back into the interrogation room.

"What do you want to know?" Emmett asked before they were fully in the room.

"Anything you want to tell us," Kent said softly.

Tonks, noticing he'd taken on his "Loving Father Voice", smiled and said nothing.

"We've been taking kids all through the war. Just…it was a middle ranking Death Eater position that Haley and I were well suited for."

"Why?" Tonks asked.

"Because we were just out of school when this all started. We were young, and looked it, so kids were more likely to trust us. Parents too, when we…er…made house calls."

"So how'd it work then? You just snatched kids in the night?"

"No. Normally we'd sweep an area—taking up to 15 kids. It drew attention to that place, but by the time authorities had found out, we'd be long gone. Delivering kids."

"To where?"

"Depended. Sometimes we'd take them to the houses that ordered them—you know, purebloods wanting mudbloods for servants. Usually though, we took them to a supplier."

"A supplier? Like a potions dealer?"

"Exactly," Emmett said, sighing. "You've got to think about it from a business standpoint. Most people who want to buy kids aren't going to want to have their order out in the open. They won't just be asking around the neighborhood for a kid they can snatch. So they get in touch with a supplier, who brings a kid to them. We do the dirty work."

"So these suppliers have kids just waiting to be bought? Or is it that they contact you when they get an order?"

"Depends on how long the supplier's been working. This thing is bigger than you lot think," he said, a bit of smugness coming back into his voice. "We're notorious, but there are about ten more of us. And about twenty suppliers."

"So give us names."

Emmett scowled at them. "So we can die at their hands in prison? No thanks."

"We'll make sure you're kept away from any...enemies," Kent said.

The younger man looked at them for a long moment before nodding. "The suppliers that I know of are Arlen West—he's stationed out of Carmarthen. Evan Brooks in Birmingham, Dante Forrester and Kenneth Smith in Dublin. Andrea Tannus in Ipswich. And the head honcho is The Wand—he's everywhere."

"The Wand?" Kent asked.

"Don't know his real name."

"What about the kidnappers, like you?" Tonks asked.

"Ask Haley. He was in contact with them."

There was a tap on the window.

"Your cooperation is appreciated," Kent said.

"I want to see my brother."

"In a bit, when we talk to him."

Tonks got up and opened the door. Maddox was already there with the other Barlow.

"He already flipped on the kidnappers. Want him in here?"

"Sure," Tonks said, shooting a spell at the open chair. Once she was sure that he'd stay put, she led the group out into the office. "We've got to get this taken care of."

Kingsley was quiet for a few minutes as he looked at their lists of names. "Once we've tracked down the rest of our top priority Death Eaters, we'll deal with these…people."

"You can't be serious!" Blakely, Tonks and Price yelped.

"Kingsley, they're trafficking _children_," Tonks said. "We have to do something about it!"

"And we will. But we need to stick to our plan." Kingsley squeezed her shoulder. "If we try to track them down, we're starting from scratch when we already have locations for the ones we're already after. We only have a vague idea of where to start. And if, by some stroke of luck, we blow this trafficking operation wide open, Greyback, Koch, and the other freaks will go slithering back into their holes."

"Why don't we just split up and—"

"The Auror department would be spread way too thin," Tonks said. "It's one operation or the other. Kingsley's right, we've got to do this first."

"Separate them again," Kingsley said. "Let them have a weekend to think on it alone. We'll see if we can get anything else out of them before sentencing Monday. You lot get to your paperwork once they're in their holding cells."

* * *

Tonks held tightly to Ginny as they listened to the Wireless coverage of the Quidditch game.

"You're tense," Ginny said. "What's wrong?"

"Worried."

"About?"

Where to begin? Tonks thought. "We just found out there's a ring of bastards trafficking children to purebloods who want Muggle-born servants." She smiled at Ginny's look of outrage. "We have to find the rest of the Top Five, as we're now calling them, before we can do anything about it. I'm just…afraid it'll take us too long to track the rest of them down, and by that time more kids will have been ripped from their families," Tonks said quietly.

"You're going to find them. All of them. Don't worry." Ginny leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Come meet the kids on Monday. You can leave after the trial, right?"

"Yeah. The kids want to meet me?"

"Mmmhmm. They think it's wicked cool that I'm married to an Auror," Ginny said, grinning.

Tonks nodded. "Okay. Were any of them kidnapped?"

"Some of them, yeah. That's the other reason I want you to meet them. I'm going to be interviewing them about their war experiences soon. They might not mind talking to you too if they've met you before."

"Like in the interview with you?"

"No, after I interview them. Police reports might traumatize them at this stage."

"Alright. I'll come over right after the trial on Monday."

**_LbN: Happy Halloween everybody! Hope you liked the chapter. Reviews and pancakes make my day! :)_**


	13. A Calm Pause

**Theater of the Mind**

"EEEK!" Ginny screeched. "Tonks! Knock it off!"

"Not until you take back what you said," Tonks said, grinning and continuing her tickling assault on her wife. "Just say you're sorry and we'll leave it at that."

"Never! Eeeeiii!" Ginny wriggled around for a few more moments before giving in. "Okay! Okay! Let me up, I have to pee! I'm sorry I said your hair looked like a fire hydrant at Christmastime!" she yelped. "Even though it kind of does," she added, once Tonks had gotten off of her.

Tonks chased her down the hall, but her wife had locked herself in their bedroom already. "You're in so much trouble when you come out," she said.

"You're getting slow in your old age, dear. I figured you would've caught me…" came the snarky reply.

Tonks didn't get a chance to reply, because the phone rang. She went into the kitchen to grab it, but ended up answering at the same time as Ginny. "Wotcher Harry," she said

"Ladies, how are both of you?"

"Fine," Ginny said.

"Annoyed," Tonks grumbled.

"Should I even ask?" was Harry's response as Ginny laughed.

"She said my hair looked like a fire hydrant at Christmastime!" Tonks whined.

"Harry, it's bright red, with silver and green streaks."

"I thought it would be cool…" Tonks pouted.

Harry chuckled. "Well, figure out the hair situation and then come over. Luna's making curry and we're going to have a game night. George and Angelina are coming too."

"Alright. What time?"

"Around six."

"We'll be there!" Ginny said.

* * *

An hour before they had to leave, Ginny relented and unlocked the door to their room so Tonks could change.

Tonks smirked as she scurried across the room. "Oh, don't worry," she said. "I have no intention of launching an attack at this point. Believe me, though, you will pay for your disparaging remarks against my hair."

"I noticed you changed it though," Ginny said, grinning.

This was true. Tonks's hair was now white with a blueish tint. She maintained a dignified silence, thought, as she got ready for the party….


	14. Justin's Family

_**LbN: The story's going to start to get heavy in the next few chapters. You have been warned. :)**_

The alarm clock rang far too soon. Ginny had been dozing peacefully, despite the noise Tonks had made getting ready. As she sat up and stretched, she saw her wife was already dressed. "Big day today, huh?" she said, looking at Tonks's "This Means Business" outfit.

"Kingsley wants us to look regal," Tonks explained, fastening the silver clasp at the top of her cloak.

"You'll be around for lunch still, right?"

"Should be, unless something urgent comes up. But the trial starts in…fifteen minutes. You'd think I'd make lunch since everything's so early."

"Six in the morning is a bit excessive," Ginny said, yawning and scooting out of bed.

"Just giving us more time to enjoy our day after these sleazebags are tucked safely away in Azkaban," Tonks said with a smile. She hugged her still sleepy wife. "See you a bit later."

"Bye Tonks."

* * *

"Good morning, Justin!" Ginny said brightly.

"Morning Dr. Ginny." Justin bounced in and sat down across the desk from Ginny. He was holding two action figures—a knight and a king.

"Today, I'd like to talk a little about your background," Ginny said, writing "July 12th" on the second page of the notebook. "Can you tell me a little about your family? What you did during the war?"

Justin nodded but was quiet for a moment. At length, he said, "I'm a half blood. When the war first broke out into the open, I was really little. I don't remember anything before the hotel we stayed in."

"Hotel?"

"Vandon House, in London. We stayed there until…" he trailed of, shrugging.

"What did you do while you were there?" Ginny asked, changing the subject as much as was possible.

"My mum taught me things. I was reading by the time I was three. I don't remember much of that, but the Death Eaters who took me were really surprised that I could read so well. I was only seven when they found us."

"What about your dad?" Ginny asked.

To her great relief, the boy's face lit up. "He had a Muggle job with a university I think. I don't really remember what he did, but I remember he would come home with treats sometimes. And he'd always cook for me and Mum in the kitchen, and we'd have dinner there in the hotel's dining room. There was never too much traffic for us to have a meal."

"What was it like for you during the day?"

Justin shrugged. "Dad always said it was too dangerous to go too far from the hotel. Mum and I would usually just go to the park and walk, and maybe go to the store on the way home. I remember once, a few days before…before _they _came…"

Ginny took this to mean the Death Eaters. "Go on," she prompted gently.

"One time Mum said I needed some sun. She and I got dressed up and we went to the museums. Walked there, so I could be out in the sunshine." Here he stopped talking and stared intently at his hands.

"We can stop for today, if you want," Ginny said quietly. She didn't want to push him if he was having a hard time.

Justin shook his head. "I'm okay."

"So most days, you just stayed in the hotel?"

"Yeah. When I was finally old enough to go to school, my parents just told the staff that they were training me up at home. I got to use their library to study. Some of them let me help them with things too. I could run papers from the desk to the maids, if they needed it. The maintanence man let me carry his bucket, when I was good. My dad told me it was good that I was learning Muggle things."

"When was the first time you did magic?"

Justin thought for a moment. "I think I was six," he said. "I remember breaking a lamp in the lounge area of the hotel."

Ginny nodded, jotting down notes still. "How's your Swahili going?"

The question obviously caught Justin off guard, for he stared at her for a long moment before realizing what she was asking. Then he laughed. "_Vilivyo_," he said. "Very well." He stood up then, and walked around the desk to where Ginny was sitting. "You said last week that we could give you memories, if we want."

"Indeed you can," Ginny said. "If there are any you'd like to share with me."

"I have one. I want you to see my parents."

Ginny nodded and opened her briefcase. From it she pulled a vial, and a small Pensieve. It was about half the size of a regular one, and empty. "Think about the memory. Bring it to your mind as clearly as you can."

Justin closed his eyes tightly, concentrating. He flinched a little when he felt the tip of Ginny's wand touch his head, but he did not pull away. Finally he opened his eyes again to see Ginny placing the memory into the small basin. "I'll come with you, if you like."

"As long as it won't upset you," Ginny said.

"It won't. I like this memory," Justin said, smiling.

"Alright, then. Put your hand on top of mine."

A moment later, Ginny found herself in a spacious hotel room. There were two beds, a television set, and a dresser. A woman was sitting on the bed, putting her son's shoes on.

"Where're we going, Ma?" little Justin asked.

"Don't know. Dad just said he wanted to take us to dinner."

"And I do!" a deep voice said from the doorway.

Ginny, still holding Justin's hand, moved aside so that the Mr. Knox of the memory could get in. She looked down to see what affect this was all having on Justin. To her surprise, he was smiling brightly at the memory of his parents.

Mr. Knox picked memory-Justin up and swung him around. "It's been ages since we had a good, proper meal at a restaurant, hasn't it boy?"

"Yes Dad," memory-Justin said, laughing.

"Then what do you say we take a walk through the park, and have dinner and tea afterwards? I have it on good authority that no unwelcome visitors have been in these parts for a few weeks."

Ginny and Justin followed the family out of the hotel and down the street. Ginny, having kept an eye on Justin, noticed when he stopped smiling. "What is it?" she asked.

"This is where he got worried," Justin said.

And indeed, his father was looking around, less jubilant than before.

"What is it, dear?" Mrs. Knox asked quietly.

"Nothing, Violet," he answered. "Let's get to our restaurant before the crowds come swarming in." He said it with a relaxed air, but Ginny could tell he had seen something to worry him.

They walked back around the park and up the street. There was a pizza place not far from their hotel, and memory-Justin decided on that for dinner.

"We ordered two pizzas," Justin said. "One with ham, and onion, and sardines. The other with pepperoni, mushroom, and green olives. My dad drank a pint of Strongbow, and my mother had wine. They let me order a soda."

Ginny put a hand on his shoulder as they watched the waiter bring the family's drinks. "This was your last meal together, wasn't it?" she asked softly.

Justin simply nodded.

"Come on," she said. "Let's go back."

**_LbN: Hope you liked it! Send reviews please! Happy Thanksgiving to all those who celebrate it. There's also a new poll up on my profile, if you want to vote. _**


	15. Trials and Tantrums

**Theater of the Mind**

Tonks sat in the upper balcony behind the Wizengamot. She looked down at the Barlow brothers, who were sweating profusely as their verdicts were read.

"Wait!" Haley shouted, after their sentence of life imprisonment was announced. "We can stay together right? Since we gave you the names?"

"The names you have given us spared you from execution," the judge snapped. "Unless you have anything more consequential—"

"Kids!" Emmett yelled. "Our last run of kids were all delivered directly to houses. We can give you names and addresses."

Tonks's ears perked up at this. The judge seemed to be deliberating this, but she could tell that Emmett's offer had hooked him.

"Very well," he said finally. "You will both be moved to Azkaban after surrendering names and addresses of the kidnapped children. If your information proves useful, we will arrange to have you kept in conjoined cells. This council is dismissed."

* * *

There were about six more people in Azkaban by the time Tonks and her team made it to the last house. They broke through the barriers and into the home before anyone knew what was happening.

"Line up, on the wall all of you," she said loudly as the team entered the kitchen. The booming quality of her voice was great for shock and awe, and only slightly hampered by the fact that she tripped over the welcome mat. Unperturbed, she looked around, taking in all of the trappings and finery that were common of pureblood homes. Then she spotted her. "Aftyn?" she said softly. "You don't have to worry, I'm with the Ministry," she told the girl, showing her the patch on her sleeve. She did a quick once over of the child, noticing a few bruises. "We're going to take you some place safe, alright."

"Where are you taking us?" the man of the house shouted.

"Azkaban, Mr. Brewer," Tonks said.

"What about our son?" Mrs. Brewer demanded.

"He'll be coming with Aftyn and me."

"We'll be out in a day," Mr. Brewer spat. "We've done nothing wrong."

"You call ripping a child from their home 'nothing'?" Tonks asked.

"Let's move, you two," Kent snapped, walking the Brewers outside.

Tonks picked up the baby from the highchair and took the little girl by the hand, before walking out into the sunlight.

* * *

"Can you tell me what you did while you were there?" Tonks asked

The little girl shook her head.

Tonks sighed. She really didn't want to have to resort to Veritaserum, but it was looking like she'd have to. "Okay. How about your parents' names? Or, where you lived before Emmett and Haley took you?"

"You know Emmett?" Aftyn asked.

"Yeah. See he's been taking lots of kids just like you from their mummies and daddies. We're trying to help get you home. Is there anything you can tell me?"

"Mum and dad are gone," Aftyn said quietly.

"Are you sure he didn't just tell you that so you wouldn't ask for them?"

"He picked me up and Haley did some magic. A green light came out of his wand and my parents didn't get back up. He said they were gone."

Tonks closed her eyes and counted to three. "Okay. Can you please tell me what you did at the Brewers' house?"

"I cleaned a lot. And I had to help set the table. I did whatever Mrs. Brewer asked me to."

"Thank you for telling me."

"Will I have to go to the War Orphans' Home?" Aftyn asked, looking quite terrified. "The Brewers said if I was ever bad or tried to run away that they'd send me there! They said the kids there aren't allowed to eat, and that they're beaten before bed; and that it's dark and there are spiders, and—"

"That's not true at all," Tonks said gently. "They were just trying to scare you. My wife works there sometimes, talking to the kids, and she says they are all very well taken care of. And her friend runs the home—Mrs. Longbottom. She loves all of the kids. She would never run a place like what the Brewers described. Will you come with me to see it?"

Aftyn looked at the hand Tonks was holding out, but said nothing.

"If it's dark and full of spiders, I promise I won't leave you there," Tonks added with a smile.

Reluctantly, Aftyn took her hand and nodded. "Okay," she whispered.

Tonks shouldered her tote bag and pushed the stroller with the other hand. They walked through the Ministry to the fireplaces. Once Tonks was sure that everyone was inside, she said, "Hannah's Office!" and they spun away.

* * *

"I always hope that this part of the war is over," Hannah said sadly. "It feels like it never will be."

Tonks put a hand on her shoulder. "Believe it or not, it might be over within the next year," she said. "It feels like a long time, and I know exactly what can happen in a year, but the end of this is coming."

"So did you lock the Barlows up and throw away the key?" Ginny asked.

"Maddox and Blakely got that honor," Tonks said, smiling. "I was on the retrieval squad."

"So they were the only two whose parents were killed?" Hannah asked.

"Well, Aftyn's were, but Michael is the Brewer's son. This is just temporary until we can locate family for him. There were another couple of kids that Macbeth and Price brought back, but they had aunts and uncles to go to."

"I think the children really like you, Tonks," Hannah said. She nodded over to where a group of girls were looking their way. The girls waved and went back to their food. "They've been so excited about 'meeting a _real Auror_' this week."

They all looked up as Chogan went running from the room.

"Oh," Hannah sighed. "I thought we might get through the week. Dylan has been great so far."

"Do you think…could I go see him?" Tonks asked.

"Sure. He's probably barricaded himself in the Time Out Room by now."

Tonks stood and ran after Chogan. She'd heard from Ginny, of course, about the boy's problems, but seeing him before he'd left had given her the smallest glimmer of a theory. "Chogan?" she said quietly.

"I'm not okay!" he yelled, tossing a bean bag across the room.

"I know. What does it feel like?"

Chogan continued destroying the room for a few minutes before he tired himself out enough to answer. "It hurts," he panted, slumping in a corner. "But this one wasn't as bad as the ones last week."

"And the Healers haven't been able to do anything for you?"

Chogan snorted at this. "No. Not a thing."

Tonks nodded. "I expect you'd like some privacy."

"Yes."

"See you next time I visit, then." Tonks walked into the hall to find Ginny and Hannah waiting for her.

"That one didn't last as long as the ones from last week," Hannah commented.

"He said it didn't hurt as much, either," Tonks told them. "Listen, I have to go see someone. I think I may be able to help them."

"Really?" Hannah and Ginny asked in unison.

"Yes. If I'm right…and it would explain why the Healers didn't know…" Tonks trailed off, thinking hard. "Hannah, have you kept a record of all their…er…tantrums?"

"For about a year," Hannah said, nodding. "But we stopped because it happened so often."

"I'll need those, if you can."

Hannah waved her wand, and a few seconds later, two files zoomed up to them and stopped in front of Tonks. "There you go."

"Great. I might be back later…or tomorrow, but soon. See you tonight," she added to Ginny. She gave her a kiss and Disapparated.

**_LbN: Hope you liked it! We're almost halfway done :). The entire story will have around 34 chapters- give or take a few for if I get lazy/ambitious. You'll find out what's up with Cho and his sister in Tonks's next chapter. Thanks for reading! Send reviews, por favor! _**


	16. Stacia's Family

**Theater of the Mind**

"July 13th, Stacia," Ginny said into her recorder. She didn't know if Tonks had stayed out all night or if she'd come back late and left early. Either way, Ginny hadn't seen her before she'd left for the WOH. She wasn't thrilled about having to wait to hear Tonks's brilliant theory, but she pushed it from her mind as much as possible as Stacia came in.

"Good morning, Dr. Ginny."

"Morning, Stacia. Would you like to play a game today while we talk?"

"Sure."

Ginny pulled out a board game and set it on the table. "So… can you tell me about your family?"

"I guess. What do you want to know?"

"Whatever you want to tell me."

"I had a mum and a dad, and a brother…."

"Where did you live during the war?"

"In our house. It's big. It's where my grandparents lived when they were alive."

"What did you do during the war? You didn't go into hiding, did you."

"No. We're purebloods, so we didn't have to hide. We were friends with a lot of people. Death Eaters came over a lot, but I don't think my parents liked them as much as they pretended."

Ginny took this to mean that the family had put off choosing sides until the last possible moment. "What else can you tell me?"

"I used to go to a wizard school for kids," Stacia said. "My dad worked for the Ministry, so I got right in."

"What did your dad do at the Ministry?"

"Before the war, he worked as a Tracker. One of the people who monitored Traces and made sure little wizards weren't using magic. I don't know what he did during the war, but he always came home sad and had to do lots of paperwork."

"And your mum?"

"She stayed home with us."

"It was just you and your brother?"

"Yeah," Stacia whispered.

Ginny changed the subject so Stacia wouldn't get too sad and clam up. "Tell me about the school you went to. That sounded neat. My brothers and I were all home schooled, so I never got to see a wizard's primary."

"It was just a school," Stacia said with a shrug. "I stopped going just before the war started."

"Why?"

"I hadn't showed any magic yet. I was getting made fun of, so my mum pulled me out and homeschooled me with Collum."

"Collum's your brother."

"Yes."

"When did you first show magic?" Ginny asked, moving her game piece forward and handing Stacia some pink money.

"When I was six. Right before…my family went away."

"What did you do?"

"I just made some flowers float."

Ginny nodded, taking a few notes. "Well, we can stop there if you want. I don't have any more questions for you."

"Did Justin give you a memory?"

"He did."

"I want to give you one too. But…I might have some things wrong…."

"I'll be able to get the real memory out as long as you think real hard about the parts you know are true," Ginny explained as she engraved Stacia's name on a vial. "Ready?"

Stacia closed her eyes tight and nodded.

Ginny pulled the memory from Stacia's mind and put it into the Pensieve. She asked, "Do you want me to look at it later? Or do you want to come with me?"

"I'll go with you."

"Take my hand, then."

The two entered the memory and saw a 6 year old Stacia running through a maze, laughing. She looked tiny next to the hedges, but they weren't that high. Ginny could almost see over them.

A moment later, a man _did _peek over them. "Ha!" he yelped. "Found my little Stacia." He vanished below the hedge for a moment, and reappeared around the corner a second later. Taking memory-Stacia's hand, he said, "Let's go find your brother and tell him he won."

"You found Mum, then?" memory-Stacia asked.

"Oh, I found her ages ago," her dad said, chuckling.

Ginny and Stacia followed the other pair through the maze. They rounded a corner when a boy popped out at them.

"Boo!" he yelled.

Memory-Stacia screamed and fell to the ground, giggling madly.

"Scared you!"

"Yes, and you've won," their dad said. "Come on, let's get back to your mum."

"Where did you leave her?" Collum asked.

"She went back to the entrance."

It took the group a few minutes to get back, because the maze was charmed to keep changing. Finally they made it to a spot where the maze opened up into a beautiful garden. They were in the shadow of a large mansion.

A woman with blonde hair and dark blue eyes was sitting on a bench under a tree. "I was wondering if the lot of you were ever coming out of there. I've sent the house elves to fetch our lunch. It's such a nice day out, I thought we'd enjoy it."

Memory-Stacia ran to her mother and sat in her lap. The real Stacia looked like she wanted to do the same, but she kept a tight hold of Ginny's hand instead. The two of them sat down next to the family as they talked about taking a holiday soon. Six house elves brought sandwiches, drinks, and chips out to the family.

Ginny sat watching the memory of Stacia interacting with her family. It seemed like any other family, but she had a feeling there was more to this than a family picnic. Stacia seemed apprehensive for some reason. Sure enough, as the house elves were serving parfaits, Mrs. Wiggins-Wainsworth tapped her husband's shoulder.

"Anthony," she said. "It's Everrett."

Her husband's head snapped up. "Afternoon, my friend!" he said brightly. Ginny noticed that his smile didn't meet his eyes. "What can I do for you?"

"I just stopped by with some gifts for the kids," he said, handing boxes to Collum and Stacia. "I also wanted to know if you'd given any thought to my offer."

"I have indeed. Rachel, will you excuse us?" Mr. Wainsworth asked, giving his wife a kiss on the cheek. "Let's discuss it in the lounge, shall we?" he said, standing up and walking with Everett to the house.

The memory ended there. Ginny and Stacia found themselves back in the office. "How long after that…did you get taken to the Ministry."

"A week."

Ginny nodded. "Thank you, Stacia. That's all I have for you today."

"Bye, Dr. Ginny."


	17. Research and Development

**Theater of the Mind**

Tonks woke up with a snort. The owner of the hand that was shaking her chuckled as she sat up, stretching and grumbling. She jumped a little when she glanced down at the page she'd fallen asleep on. The pictures were gruesome. Looking at her watch, she saw that it was already nine in the morning.

"Rise and shine, Nymphadora!"

"I'll ignore that egregious use of my first name, so long as you have good news for me," she said, as Remus Lupin pulled out a seat next to her.

"In fact, I do." He pulled a small case out of his cloak and pushed it toward her.

Tonks opened it and smiled. "Wolfsbane Potion."

"Diluted Wolfsbane Potion," Remus said. "They shouldn't need the full strength. From the tantrum I saw in the memory you gave me, plus their files and the kids' description of what it feels like, the committee and I are fairly certain that this is a case of werewolf transference."

"So one of their parents was a werewolf?"

"The father. The bite of a werewolf has…er…varied effects on people, but one of the universal ones for women is that they are no longer able to reproduce. Therefore, in the few instances of werewolf transference, it's always the father's fault," Remus concluded with a smile.

"So, what do we do now?"

"You have to have them take the potion. I've given you a three month supply, assuming they take a half dose every week."

"Assuming?"

"It's rare—very rare—for werewolves to have children," Remus said. "So rare, in fact, that you're lucky we had anyone to compare Chogan and his sister to. They are only the fourth case of werewolf transference since the potion was invented, and the fifteenth documented case ever. They'll have to try it for a month or two, to make sure the dosage works for them. They're registered with the Werewolf Protection Committee now, so they'll be able to get the potion sent to them at Hogwarts. I know they're…er…unlikely to be overjoyed by the news. If they want to keep it hush-hush for now, they can send their letters directly to me. And, so they'll be able to document the potion usage and their symptoms, two journals for them—courtesy of the WPC."

"Thanks, Remus!" Tonks said brightly.

"Any time. Here are their files back."

"Great."

"What are you reading?" he asked, peeking over her arm and recoiling at the sight.

" One of the field teams that was tracking Koch recovered a couple of poisons," Tonks explained. "I was just looking up different rare ones. The team said they could be any of these." She pointed to the list that was serving as a bookmark. "Guess I fell asleep somewhere between appendix bursting and liver expulsion…."

"Lovely. On that note, I'm off to retrieve my tea. Have a good day!"

"Thanks! I owe you lunch!"

"Holding you to that, Nymphadora."

Tonks chuckled and closed the case he'd given her. Storing her book in her bag, she made her way out of the library and down the hall to Kingsley's office. She'd check in before going to the WOH.

* * *

"Tonks!" Hannah said in surprise. "I was hoping you would make it back today. Ginny's still in her interview with Stacia. Did you find anything?"

"I did," Tonks said, grinning. Then she added, "Well technically all I did was ask nicely. A friend did the actual 'finding' for me. Is there somewhere we could talk? How close is Ginny to being finished?"

"Probably just a few minutes."

The two of them didn't have to wait long. By the time they made it outside and got Chogan and Dylan from their game of rugby, Stacia and Ginny were coming out of the office.

"You may go play or finish your chores, Stacia," Hannah told the girl.

Once she had left, the rest of the group moved into Hannah's small office. With the Lake siblings on the couch, and the adults in chairs around them, it looked a bit like an intervention. Tonks quickly, but thoroughly, explained the situation, giving the Wolfsbane Potion to Hannah, and the diaries to the kids. "Do you two have any questions?"

The children sat, stunned for a moment, then Dylan spoke up. "Our dad…he was a werewolf right?"

"Yes."

"Then he's registered with this committee thing?" she asked tentatively.

Tonks sighed. She'd been expecting this. "Not necessarily. The committee is very new, and very small still. Not all of the werewolves trust the Ministry, with very good reason given the history of the two groups."

"But this group," Chogan began, "they'll keep giving us the potion if it works? We don't have to do anything else?"

"I expect they'll want to check in on your symptoms every now and then," Tonks said. "You'll probably have to send in those journals so they can keep records. Other than that, I don't think they'll bother you much."

Chogan looked from the case of potion on Hannah's desk, to the journal in his hands, and back to Tonks. "Thank you," he said finally, as if it was just dawning on him exactly what this meant. "We should've called you instead of the Healers," he said with a small laugh.

"The werewolves they see are the ones who have been bitten," Tonks said, shrugging. "Like I said, you guys have a very rare…er…condition. They probably know little about it. Any other questions?"

Both siblings shook their heads.

"Well, in that case, you may go to lunch," Hannah said.

"I've got to head back to the office," Tonks told Ginny. "Do you want to have lunch with me?"

"Of course!" Ginny said, grabbing her briefcase. "See you tomorrow, Hannah!"

* * *

Tonks had never been the most brilliant of Potions students, so watching Macbeth work was nothing short of mesmerizing. She sat quietly to the side of the lab table as he poked, stirred, scribbled notes, adjusted heat, etc. As enthralled as she was, Tonks was getting a little antsy. Sitting still had never been her forte…. "Any ideas?" she asked softly.

"It's either a garden variety lung burner, or the more sinister hallucinatory-go-crazy-maker. They differ by exactly three ingredients, which I'm trying to pinpoint."

"I appreciate that you always speak in layman's terms," Tonks told him, grinning. "Both of those sound painful."

"Well, depending on how you meet your death in the second one, yes. If your family, or whoever, knows about the poison, they can keep you from impaling yourself or jumping off a bridge. However, you'll die in fear anyway, so it might be more merciful to just let you have at it…."

"It makes you see things?"

"See things, hear things, smell things… you'll go absolutely out of your mind with just a tablespoon of this stuff. God help you if someone uses the whole vial. We have to catch this creep," he added, almost to himself.

"We will."

**_LbN: Hope you liked the chapter! There's going to be some good, old fashioned, G/Tnks fluff in the next chapter :). Send reviews, plz & thnx!_**


	18. Danger

**Theater of the Mind**

Tonks held a hand up to the team, signaling for them to stay in the entryway. She tiptoed across the hall into the living room, following the wire she'd spotted. She heard something rumbling upstairs and cast a spell. "Out!" she yelled a second later. As she watched her team Disapparate, she found she couldn't. "Damn!" The house obviously had Apparation spots, which meant she had to get back to the doorway without tripping any of the sensors. Too bad she'd just used magic, and yelled. Sure enough, a few jars on the mantle began to explode, letting out purple and blue smoke. Tonks took a deep breath of good air, before taking a vial from her pocket. She summoned some of the mist into it, and dropped to the ground, army crawling across the room. She held her breath, but the living room was large, and she wasn't sure if she could make it. The cloud was settling, reaching down in hazy droplets to the ground. Her foot caught the wire she'd been following. More wires shot out, grabbing her feet and pulling her back toward the fireplace. She shot a severing spell at them, but five more attached themselves to her legs.

Suddenly, there was a snapping noise, and a pair of hands grabbed her arms and pulled her out. In another few seconds, she was outside, looking up at Macbeth. She took a few moments to breathe.

"It was a trap," Macbeth said, stating the obvious to the group to give Tonks time.

"Yeah," she said, getting up. "Thought I told you to leave?" she said, smirking at him.

"I did. And then I came back." He gave her a grin, but his eyes were unsure. They were close friends, but she _was _his superior.

Tonks squeezed his shoulder. "Thanks," she said. "Got a project for you and Blakely," she said. "We need to know what we're up against." She took out the vial of purple mist and handed it to him. "Let's get back to headquarters."


	19. Trust

**Theater of the Mind**

The next two interviews went just as well as the rest. She'd learned that Damien's family had lived in the open, but in fear of a few Death Eaters that constantly terrorized them. Nikki's family had gone underground in a Muggle community. Chogan and Dylan had, as far as Ginny could tell, had lived a quiet, but open, life with their mother. Chogan had simply told her this—he had been reluctant to give up his memories. Ginny had guessed that he was going to cave to peer pressure, but she didn't want him to do anything he was uncomfortable with, and had told him so. Thus, she'd ended the week with four memories to think about, instead of five. Frankly, Damien's was enough to keep her analytical mind occupied by itself.

"You're doing it again," Tonks said, stowing her extra wand in her bag.

Ginny shook herself from her reverie and slid closer to Tonks. "You're one to talk," she said, taking her hand. "Are you going to tell me where you're going?"

"When you tell me what's been bothering you this week," Tonks countered.

Ginny was quiet for a moment. Finally, she said, "Fine with me."

"What?"

"I'll tell you what's been bothering me, if you tell me where you're going. Or at least what you're doing. We have to trust each other with this—with what we do at work. It'll drive us crazy if we don't."

Tonks zipped up her bag and nodded. "Fine. I just…I don't want you to worry."

"I'd worry more if you didn't tell me."

"I doubt that. Remember when I came back on Wednesday? Blakely figured out that the mist in the house was just something to make the victim pass out. Another squad went back after we left—there were all sorts of traps, everything meant to keep you there. We traced equipment and potions ingredients back to stores, and did a quick analysis of the magic used, and came up with a timeline of when Swanson and Koch were at the house."

"They're working together?"

"For a while they were. The newest magical traces were just from Swanson, so we think Koch broke off about two months ago. Anyway, we think we know where Swanson is staying when he's not at the house. We're going after him this weekend."

"Is it… are you guys sure he's there? Or are you trailing him?"

"We're 95 percent sure. But now it's your turn. What happened this week? You've been spacing out since Wednesday."

"It's about Damien," Ginny said.

"There's a surprise and a half…."

Ginny smiled and walked over to her case of memories. She picked up Damien's and asked, "Familiar with two Death Eaters named Walsh and Hughes?"

"Yeah. Walsh got chucked in Azkaban about five months ago, but Hughes is still out there. Why?"

Ginny summoned the Pensieve from their room and dumped the memory in. "Take a look. I have a bad feeling about where this is going."

A moment later, Tonks and Ginny were standing in the middle of a normal looking street. There was a man standing in front of the nearest house, looking nervously up the street at a pair of people walking toward him. One was a large man, the other was a boy.

"Dad!" Damien shouted, running to him. "Mr. Hughes took me to Hogsmeade after school. He said I had to come with him, to see the…the execution."

Damien's dad glared at the man, but smiled at his son. "Go inside with your mother." He watched the boy run into the house before turning to the man. "How long is this going to continue, Hughes? You kidnapping my son every day? What do you want?"

Ginny and Tonks noticed a rustling in the trees, and saw that Damien had come back outside and was eavesdropping.

"Kidnapping?" Hughes asked silkily. "No, sir, I merely took the lad on a small trip. You see, he needs to learn what being a pureblood means. He certainly isn't getting those lessons from his father."

"He's a pureblood," Mr. Swafford said. "There's no reason for you to torment us like this."

"On the countrary," Hughes said, shaking his head. "The boy needs to know what happens to blood traitors like his father."

"It's true," Swafford said. "After my wonderful, perfect, pureblood wife _left me_, I married a Muggle woman. So what happens now?" he asked, words dripping with contempt. "I've done my part to you little…cause. I've procreated, giving the wizarding community one more pureblood."

Hughes laughed. "You've done nothing but betray your heritage. Having that filthy Muggle raise your son." He went sprawling to the ground when Swafford punched him. Getting to his feet, he gave the other man a grim smile. "I think Walsh and I'll walk your son home from school again tomorrow." The man glanced around once and Disapparated.

Mr. Swafford stared at the spot for a moment before calling, "Damien? Come down from there."

Damien climbed down from the tree and walked up to his dad.

"You're going to your grandmother's house," Mr. Swafford said calmly. "Go on, pack your bag."

The memory faded and Tonks looked at Ginny. "Spidey senses tingling?"

"That's the last time I let you go through my dad's comic books," Ginny said. "But yes. Damien was…something was a bit off after he gave that to me. I asked why he picked this memory, and he said he wanted to show me his dad, and the men who took his family away. I'm a little worried about what's coming next. I told them we would talk more about the war next week."

Tonks nodded. "You're staying with your family this time, right?"

"Yes," Ginny said, smiling a little. "Especially since you tattled on me."

"All I told Molly was that I was going out of town. She asked you over out of the goodness of her heart."

Ginny laughed a little. "Sure. I won't be over there for long, though. I'm going on a field trip with the kids."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Hannah asked me to come along. We're taking them to the zoo, I think."

"All of them?"

"No, just the older half."

Tonks was quiet for a second. Then she took Ginny's hand and pulled her over to the couch. "I thought you were supposed to be off on the weekends."

"I am. I wanted to go."

"Please remember to take a break. You're starting to obsess."

"Promise. Trust me?"

"Yeah."


	20. Memories

**Theater of the Mind**

The weekend came and went. Ginny had kept her promised and relaxed. She stayed at her parents' house, helping her mother with chores and keeping her dad company as he tinkered with the Muggle radio Ron had given him for Christmas. The field trip to the zoo was fun, and rather uneventful. Still, Ginny came home from it tired, and was glad to spend the rest of the weekend with family.

By Tuesday, however, it was getting harder to stay relaxed and focused. First of all, she now had four new memories to dissect—two from Justin and two from Stacia. They had officially let her in on their war. She remembered her last year at Hogwarts—undermining the Carrows, detentions that tested all of her strength…. It was nothing compared to what she'd seen in these memories. Even with all of the news stories, she couldn't have prepared herself. The second thing on her mind—and she was debating whether or not this was the worst part—was that Tonks wasn't home yet. She'd thrown herself into her work, trying not to worry.

She closed all of the notebooks and stacked them on the end of the coffee table. Picking up her recorder, she hit the start button and said, "Interviews moving along better than I could have expected. Rather than close me out, most of the kids seem quite eager to share their stories with me. I'm seeing a sense of relief spread, not just though the group, but through the entire home as well. I think they've stopped expecting ulterior motives from me. Dylan, Chogan's sister, is one of another group of children who've agreed to do a set of interviews. A change has come over the initial group as well. The small amount of hesitation I see is due to their wish to protect me from what they've witnessed. Damien's warned me for three days running now about his memories. I hope I will be able to help him. All of them. End July 18."

"Are you planning on going to bed now?" Molly asked softly, coming into the living room.

"Not yet. I want to review these memories before I go to sleep. I'm seeing the kids in the afternoons now, so I can have a lie in tomorrow."

"Just don't get too run down," Molly said, frowning slightly.

"I promise to go to bed as soon as I feel sleepy," Ginny said, raising her right hand.

"I'm holding you to that." She kissed Ginny's forehead and said, "Good night, dear."

"Night, Mum." As her mother left the room, Ginny uncapped the memory Justin had given her on Monday. Walking over to the desk, she poured it into the Pensieve. She took a deep breath, and entered it.

* * *

Two Death Eaters had Justin and his family cornered in their hotel room. Justin's dad was standing in front of his family, arms out to shield them. The two men in masks just laughed. One of them cast a Cruciatus curse at Mr. Knox, positively snorting with glee as the wife screamed for them to stop. The other one let out an "oof!" and dropped his wand as Justin kicked him in the groin.

"Stupefy!" the first Death Eater shouted. The force of the spell blasted Justin backwards into the wall.

The memory faded, and Ginny found herself in a dark cell. At least 15 kids, all, by their looks, six or seven years old, sat huddled in the back corner. Ginny had thought, when she'd first seen the memory, that they were trying to keep warm. Justin had explained that they were actually protecting the smallest one, a three-year-old, from the attentions of a particularly sadistic guard.

"That's enough, Walsh!" a gruff voice barked. "Give 'em their mash, and get out."

A shadow fell at the entrance of the cell, and the kids all scrambled to the bowl of potatoes that was shoved in.

"Stop."

It was a young voice, but there was enough power in it to make the children stop snatching at the bowl. It was Damien. He moved out from where he sat beside the little child, and stood up. "There's enough for all of us, if we're careful. Let Sylvia eat first. Then Michael, then Jana, and up. Little kids get two scoops, big kids get one."

Ginny saw Justin nod and start serving the food. The memory faded, and she was back in her parents' living room. She glanced at the clock. It was 10:30—she really should go to bed. But then again, the next memories weren't that long. She crossed the room, put Justin's memories back, and grabbed Stacia's.

The girl and her brother were running through the maze. This time though, it was night. Collum looked frightened. He was pulling Stacia deeper into the hedges.

"Collum! Collum, why are we doing this? It's too late to play in the maze!"

"F-father said to. Keep moving." One of the hedges in front of them sank lower and they jumped over it. They stopped when they reached the center of the maze. "We have to stay here until Father comes to get us. He said if he's not here by morning, then we have to go to Aunt Patti's house. He gave me money."

They stayed there, sitting and listening, for a long time. Suddenly, the night was lit by a shower of blue and green sparks. Someone yelled, "Search the maze!"

Stacia moved to sit in Collum's lap as the voices grew louder. They heard shouts and curses as the maze fought to protect them.

Collum took a wand out of his pocket.

"What are you doing?" Stacia whispered. "You're not allowed to use magic!"

"Listen!" Collum said, tucking a bag of money into Stacia's coat pocket. "Go to the farthest end of the maze. It'll make a space for you to crawl out of. Go down the road and sleep at the bus terminal. As soon as it opens, show them this note from Father, and go to Aunt Patti's. I'll follow you."

"Collum…." Stacia said tremulously.

"Just do it. Aunt Patti will look after you."

The voices were just beyond the hedge. Collum gave Stacia a small push in the direction of the other opening in the hedges. He gave her a hug, and she ran. She ran, ducking branches, climbing over lower hedges, and standing perfectly still at times. Finally, she found the hidden exit and crawled through it. She started running again, but it was all for nothing. The garden was open, and she was surrounded by Death Eaters almost immediately. One of them grabbed her. "Let me go!" she screamed. "Collum! COLLUM!"

Another few Death Eaters came out of the maze. "The boy fought," one said.

"Well, we've got this one. Let's go."

"Collum!" Stacia screamed.

The memory faded. Ginny pulled herself out before the second memory started. She'd watched it before—the memory of Stacia being auctioned to a pureblood family. Suddenly, she was cold and tired—and in no mood to continue. She walked up the stairs to her room, the sounds of Stacia's screams echoing in her ears.


	21. Chogan's War

**Theater of the Mind**

Ginny smiled at Hermione, who was waddling over with a cup of water. "I really could've gotten that for you."

"Hush, I'm trying to maintain my independence," Hermione said, smiling. "Have you heard from Harry lately?"

"No. Which is odd, because he usually comes by before Tonks leaves on a mission to say good luck. Why? What's he up to?"

"Er…he and Luna are married. And expecting."

Ginny's mouth dropped open. "When did this happen?"

"They found out last week, and they went to the Ministry to…er…make it honest," Hermione explained with a chuckle. "It's just speeding up the inevitable. Harry was going to propose in the next month. But I guess Luna has a ton of pregnancy superstitions, so Harry's been running about trying to cater to her odd ideas."

Ginny laughed. "That's great! We can throw you both a conjoined baby shower!"

Hermione laughed, and took a sip of her water. "Still no word from Tonks?" she asked gently.

Ginny shook her head. "No letter, no Patronus, nothing. I'm trying not to worry…."

"You remember what I did to my parents before my seventh year?"

"Yeah, you altered their memories, just in case you didn't come back."

"Right," she said, setting her cup on the coffee table. "Well, I was stalling one day—couldn't bring myself to do it yet—and I went to talk to my mom. I asked her if she'd ever worried about me going to Hogwarts. She told me something really interesting. She said that at first she worried all the time. Then, when I was returning for second year, she read in a book called _Choke_, that the mind is the only place where you have complete privacy. In the mind, there is no difference between what is, and what could be. She told me that in that moment, she stopped worrying. She knew that things _could_ happen, but that I'm the type of person who takes what I know, and adapts to the situation. So any time she would start worrying about…I don't know…me falling off a broomstick, she'd just think about how I'd react to that. How I'd make it okay. Tonks is the same way—she knows how to change what she has and make it work for her. I'm not saying not to worry—that's impossible—just make sure your worries are balanced with heavy doses of fantasizing about her kicking ass…."

Ginny laughed. That was the best advice she'd gotten in weeks.

* * *

"July 20th, slight change in plans," Ginny said into her recorder. "Interviewing Chogan today, as Damien is sick with a cold." She was just writing the date at the top of a page in Chogan's notebook when he walked in.

"Hi Dr. Ginny," he said, sitting cross legged on the couch. "Damien says hi, and that he'll see you Friday."

"Tell him I hope he's feeling better."

"I will."

"So," she said, starting the recorder. "your file says that you and your sister were in hiding for the last part of the war. Three years, right?"

Chogan nodded. "Yeah. We moved into this cabin in the woods when the war first broke out, but we weren't really hiding. The night Dylan and I ran away was when that started."

"Can you tell me about that night?"

"Dad came back. I heard a man's voice saying something about 'seeing his kids,' so I sneaked out of my room. There were a couple more men in the living room with them, and I saw that one of them had a Dark Mark. Mom had told us, if Death Eaters ever came for us, to run to Wales and stay in the Muggle World. So when I saw the Dark Mark, I went to Dyklan's room and woke her up. We went down a secret set of stairs that Mum had made in my room and ran into the woods…." Chogan trailed off.

"We can talk about something else for a while, if you want," Ginny suggested.

The boy shook his head. "We ran into the woods, but we could hear our mum yelling. She was fighting them, I think. We made it about a mile out before Dad caught us." He stopped again, fidgeting. Ginny could tell that he was holding back tears. "He grabbed both of us around the mouth so we couldn't yell, and he said he wouldn't take us that night. he said that he'd be back one day for us. Then he told us to run and hide, and he Disapparated. I never even saw his face." A couple of tears escaped, and he wiped them away angrily. "I don't miss her."

"Who?" Ginny asked.

"My mum. You were wondering—I could tell. I don't miss her."

"Why not?"

Chogan smiled. "You're the head doctor. Aren't you supposed to tell me that?"

Ginny laughed at this. "Give it a go. There must be something."

"It's hard to miss someone who didn't give a shit about you. It's true!" he said, seeing that Ginny was about to interrupt. "She never wanted us around when she was alive. And if she had cared, she wouldn't have slept with a Death Eater-werewolf. She would've picked somewhere safer to hide. And she wouldn't have kept in contact with him."

"Wait—she kept in contact with him?"

Chogan was quiet for a long moment. "I have a really good sense of smell. Don't know if it's the werewolf thing, or what. With Dylan, it's the ears—she can hear a pin drop across the Home. But my nose…it has super powers or something. Every once in a while, Mum would get a letter from someone. she'd always wait until we were distracted to read it, but I peeked at a few. They always smelled like cheap tobacco and…animal. The night he spoke to us, our dad smelled just like those letters."

"I'm going to guess that you never saw a name…?"

Chogan shook his head. "There was never a signature."

Ginny nodded, making a few notes. "Where did you hide?"

"In our old house," Chogan said, grinning. "We had no idea how to get to Wales, so we went back. It was in a Muggle neighborhood, so we figured we'd be a little safer. We stayed upstairs most of the time, and we never had the shades up. Had to pinch some stuff from other houses and stores, but…." He broke off, shrugging. "Can I go no?"

Ginny smiled. It was always like this with him—just when she felt like she was getting him to open up, he left. "Sure," she said.

"I want to give you two memories today," he said, hopping off the couch. "One's of the night we ran, and the other is one of the days we were hiding."

"Alright." Ginny took the two memories and put them away in her case. "Chogan, before you go, I do have one last question."

"What's that?"

"How did you manage it? Being right under their noses for three years?"

"Dylan thinks it's because the Death Eaters were a little dim," Chogan said with a smile. "But I think Dad knew where we were and kept 'em away. Catch you later, Dr. Ginny."

Ginny watched him leave, unsettled by his last remark. If their father had known where they were during the war, then he knew where they were now. She put it out of her mind as she packed her things to leave.


	22. Trapped

**Theater of the Mind**

Tonks had lost track of the days. She licked her dry lips, trying to drown out the sounds of Price's screams. He was a tough nugget—he'd lasted longer than Kent, way longer than Maddox, and if she had to bet, Macbeth probably wouldn't beat his record either.

There were footsteps on the stairs outside of the small chamber, and the team let go of each other's hands. First rule of capture—don't show weakness. Light flooded the dungeon a moment later, and Price was pushed in. Chains immediately attached themselves to him.

Rhydian Swanson walked through the door behind him. "I do enjoy breaking the stubborn ones," he said, wiping blood off his hands with a hankie. "However, this is unnecessary. All I want is to have some fun with you lot, but you insist on lying to me! It would be so much easier if you'd just tell me which one of you is the captain."

"I told you," Tonks said. "It's me."

"You're too young, and a woman," Rhydian said contemptuously. "I don't take kindly to lies. I'll take immense pleasure in breaking you."

Rule number two of capture—don't fuck with the one holding the wand. Rule number three—fuck the rules, just survive. Maybe a show of bravado would convince this psycho that she really was the leader. "Breaking me? You have no idea who I am do you? I'm Bellatrix _**fucking **_Lestrange's niece. You've got nothing on her, kid."

Rhydian regarded her for a moment. "Perhaps you are the captain."

"Finally, you're getting it."

"Bellatrix Lestrange, you say? I do remember her."

"Then you know that I've seen the worst of torture."

He smiled. "We'll see about that." With that, he pushed past Tonks, grabbed Blakely, and dragged her out of the dungeon.

"NO!" Tonks screamed, as the door closed and they were left in the cold darkness once more.


	23. Nikki's War

**Theater of the Mind**

Ginny finished her breakfast and glanced at the clock. She still had an hour to go before she had to be at the WOH, so she sat down to review her notes on Nikki. Pouring the memory into the Pensieve, she dipped her head through the surface and landed in a brightly lit kitchen that faved a beach. Nikki was sitting at the table with a cup of milk. The voices of a group of adults drifted in from the other room. Ginny followed her into the next room, where four adults were sitting.

"Mum! Can we go to the park today?" Memory-Nikki asked, jumping onto the first lady's lap.

"I'm not sure love," Nikki's mother said. "Mark, do you think it's safe today?"

A burly man with a red beard paced in front of the window a few times. "I'm not sure. Haven't seen any more of those nutters in masks around. That doesn't mean they're not there though. Why don't Ean and I take a walk first? If everything looks alright, we'll come back and get you."

The memory faded. Ginny couldn't figure it out. Nikki said they had been perfectly well hidden. Well, there was no use worrying about it now. She would find out soon enough.

* * *

Nikki entered the office all smiles that afternoon. "Hi Dr. Ginny!"

"Hello Nikki. Did you have a good morning?"

"Yeah! We got to go to the museum. Are we going to talk about the war today?"

"If that's okay with you."

Nikki nodded and walked over to the Pensieve. "I can show you again, if you want."

"Okay. Will you show me how they found you? I'm a little confused about that. You seemed so well hidden."

"I don't know how they found us at first," Nikki said. "But I can show you the day they took me." She closed her eyes and let Ginny take the memory. A moment later they were both following behind her family on a crowded London street. "We're going to the Ministry," she explained.

"Wait, what?" Ginny said, as they walked to keep up. "You were hidden and you went straight into the most unsafe place in the Wizarding world?"

"We had to. They sent a letter to the house, saying that I needed to be registered on the list of potential Hogwarts candidates. My dad said that if we didn't go in, they'd come to get us. And he didn't want Aunt Cassy and Uncle Ean to be in danger."

Ginny nodded and they continued on their way. As they walked through the halls of the Ministry, she could feel hundreds of hidden eyes on them. People watching from offices—knowing that this was one of the families that wouldn't be a family for too much longer. Finally, they got to a larger room, with desks at the front. Nikki's family walked up to one of them, and the man there looked down at them.

"Ahhh," he said. "I do believe we finally have the Pearsons."

There was an odd shuffling noise that made Ginny look up. Hundreds of Dementors were floating just above their heads. Even though they were in a memory, Ginny still shivered.

"We received your letter," Nikki's dad said. His voice was firm, and steady, but Ginny could see fear lurking just behind his eyes. "There is some sort of registration you need from us?"

"Indeed," the man said. "Here are the papers. You may have a seat just there."

It took about fifteen minutes for Mr. Pearson to get through all of the papers. In that time, Ginny noticed that a lot more Ministry officials had filed into the room. As Mr. Pearson walked up to hand the papers back, one of them approached him.

"You may bring them with you," he said. "My name is Argos Plum, head of the Registry Department. If you will all follow me, we'll have you set up in no time."

Mrs. Pearson looked apprehensive, but took memory-Nikki's hand and followed her husband.

They were led down a long hallway, and into a comfortably furnished room. Plum took their papers and tapped them with his wand. After they'd disappeared, he sat across the desk from them, and folded his hands. "This must be little Nikki."

"Yes," Mr. Pearson affirmed.

Plum held out a candy to her and continued. "When did she first display magic?"

"Two years ago, when she was five."

"Was it a neutral or destructive display?"

"I'm sorry," Mr. Peason said, brow furrowed. "I'm not sure I understand you."

"When she displayed magic, was it just an illusion, or did it destroy something?"

"Levitation. She levitated some chips off my plate at dinner."

"Indeed, indeed. Well, that's all we need. Gentlemen!" he called.

Three Death Eaters entered. Mrs. Pearson gasped and held Nikki to her.

"What's the meaning of this, Plum?" Mr. Pearson roared, standing up.

"You, sir, are guilty of diluting pure Wizard blood. You've married this woman," he said, pointing to Nikki's mom, "And produced a half-blood. This, coupled with your blatant disrespect for the new laws of our community—"

"We came all the way to London to fill out your registry!"

"After we had to hunt you down and resort to threats. You've also compromised the secrecy of our world by living with Muggles. They have been taken care of."

"What do you mean, 'taken care of'? Get your hands off of me!" he yelled at two of the Death Eaters. "Where are you taking my daughter? Let go of them!"

"Daddy!"

A Death Eater grabbed her and left out of a side door. He carried her down another dark hallway and down a staircase. Here there was more noise. Cells stood on both sides of them. At the end of the hallway, a woman sat at a desk sorting paperwork. "This is…Nikki?" she asked.

"DAAADDDYYY!" Nikki bellowed. The cries echoed down the hall, mixing with the chatter and screams of the other children.

The Death Eater took out his wand and cast a silencing charm on her. "Yes," he said to the woman, rubbing his ear.

"Hmph," she said. She summoned a dark purple jumpsuit and passed it to him. "Get her changed. How old?"

"Seven."

"Put her in cell three."

The memory faded, and Ginny and Nikki found themselves back in the office. Nikki sat down on the couch. "I was lucky, though."

Ginny quirked an eyebrow at her. "Lucky?"

"The kids who were kidnapped during the summer—the ones who spent the whole time there—had it way worse. The guards liked to mess with them when they first got there. It was January when I got there. By that time, they pretty much left us alone."

"Were you in the same cell with Justin and Damien?"

"No. Plus, they snuck out a little bit after I got there."

"They snuck out?"

"Yeah. I expect Damien will tell you tomorrow."

Ginny nodded. "That's all I have for you today."

"What are we talking about next week?"

"I'm…not sure. I'll have to think about it."

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Have a good afternoon."


	24. Damien's War

**Theater of the Mind**

Ginny spent the morning at the WOH. The boys had a Rugby game that she and Hannah watched, and she got to check up on Chogan and Dylan—both of whom were doing much better with the help of the Wolfsbane Potion. She spent her lunch hour mentally preparing herself for Damien's interview, and when he finally walked into the office, she was reasonable calm.

"Afternoon, Dr. Ginny."

"Hi there Damien. So," she said, "You've been warning me all week about this memory. Let's get it out. You ready?"

Damien nodded. "But I want to do that one last. I have another one I want to show you. It's about me and Justin," he said, smiling.

"Okay. What do you have for me?"

"The day we escaped."

* * *

The guards pushed a bowl of oatmeal into the cell. By now, Ginny saw, the kids had developed a habit of letting Damien or Justin serve. Once they all had their food, they sat against the far wall, eating with their fingers.

"I'm not hungry, Damien," one of the girls said.

"You have to eat."

"Don't leave."

"SHHH!" he hissed. "Listen, if we find a way out of here, we can help the rest of you out."

"I don't want you to go."

Damien huffed and said, "Eat your food." He stood up and walked over to Justin. "Are you ready?"

"We're going to die," Justin said, hollowly.

"Probably," Damien agreed with a grin. "Let's do it."

The pair of them let out strangled cries. Justin's, in particular, sounded like a wounded animal. The other children began their own cries for help. Damien and Justin began rolling on the floor, holding their stomachs.

"SHUT UP!" one of the guards bellowed. "What's wrong with that lot?"

"Aargh!" Damien moaned.

"Open it up, we'll take them to St. Mungo's." Another guard had come over.

"Screw 'em," the first guard said. "What do I care?"

"We're not supposed to waste magical blood."

The two opened the cage slightly, and dragged Justin and Damien out of the cage. The memory faded and they were in a hospital room. The two boys were sleeping peacefully, until the clock struck twelve. Damien woke up first, and slipped into his shoes. He shook Justin awake, and the two of them crept to the door. Their guards were asleep. Damien gently pulled the wand away from the first guard and the two of them crept down the hall. Dodging Healers and assistants, they finally made it to the front doors. As the pair walked out into the cold night, the memory faded once more, and Ginny and Damien found themselves back in the office.

"Just like that?" Ginny asked, astonished.

"We were afraid the Healers would give us away, but they didn't. They diagnosed us with something no one had ever heard of before. We probably could have stayed there for the rest of the war, but we didn't know how long that would be, or if the guards would go ahead and take us back—illness be damned. Pardon my language."

"I'll ignore it. What's your second memory?"

Damien stared at her for a moment. "Are you sure you want to see it?"

"Will it help me help you?"

"…I think so…."

"Then yes."

"Alright."

* * *

"Gran!" Damien yelled from the top of the stairs. Green light exploded, and the older woman crumpled to the ground. "You—!" He didn't get to finish, as the Death Eater grabbed him and Disapparated. They landed in the living room of another home.

Ginny recognized the man on the floor as Damien's father. She felt Damien slip a hand into hers.

"Glad the brat could join us."

"Leave them alone!" memory-Damien yelped. He broke away from the man holding him and ran to his father. He didn't make it, as he was lifted into the air inside of a bubble.

Ginny recognized the bubble as the one Voldemort had kept his snake in. couldn't hear anything but the boy's yells. Unfortunately, she could still see what was happening.

A flash of green light, and Mr. Swafford was still. Mrs. Swafford was still fighting. Not for long though. Three of the men held her down, and the fourth Vanished her clothes.

Ginny gasped and looked over to Damien. He had his eyes squeezed shut, and she was extremely thankful that they couldn't hear what was taking place beneath them. She looked over to the boy in the memory. Tears were streaming down his face, and he was beating on the bubble, screaming at the men below. He was calling them names Ginny hadn't even heard of before. She'd seen enough. Taking Damien's hand, she pulled both of them out of the memory. Both of them were silent for a few minutes.

"I'm sorry if it scared you," Damien whispered. His eyes were still closed.

Ginny said nothing, but wrapped him in a tight hug.

* * *

"Ginny! Whatever is the matter?" Molly asked.

"Can I stay here again this weekend?" Ginny asked, sniffing. She'd cried in her apartment for a good hour and a half before collecting herself enough to come over.

"Of course. Come in, and I'll make some tea."

Ginny walked in and fell into a chair. This was it. It was time for a break.

**_

* * *

LbN: Send reviews, please! Also, there's a new poll on my profile. _**


	25. The Man in the Castle

**Theater of the Mind**

Tonks awoke to an absolutely nauseating smell. After recovering from the shock of it, she realized that she was alone. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the lighting. After spending what felt like weeks in a dark dungeon, the light stung. She crawled to the edge of the cage she was in and looked down. The smell was explained. She was hanging thirty feet over a giant cauldron of bubbling liquid. She retched and stumbled back.

"Ah, wonderful!" Rhydian's voice came from a few yards off. "You're awake. Excellent. You'll notice that there is a sandwich and drink on the other side of your…abode. I do hope tuna and sweet corn is alright. Come now, don't give me that look," he said, chuckling. "It's not poisoned or tainted at all. I need you to eat. You'll need your strength. Your team will be here shortly."

* * *

Maddox sat up, wincing. He squinted in the dark light, then gave Price a shake. "Price…COREY! Wake up. Tonks is gone!"

"What?" the older man sat up and looked around.

"Mmmm…" Blakely mumbled. Her lips were swollen shut, but Maddox could tell she'd heard them.

There was a noise on the stairs and, a second later, the door flew open. Rhydian strolled in, lighting the place for the first time they'd been there. "Hello my lovies!" he said, apparently elated about something. "You'll be happy to know that your leader is alive. Eh…it reeks in here." He waved his wand and cleaned the cell—taking away the smells of urine and dried blood. "Now, we're going to have a nice little lunch, and then you will be taken to her. _Accio!_" he called. Plates whizzed into the chamber and stopped in front of each Auror. "I'll be back soon. Eat up—you'll need your strength." He looked around the cell, smiling evilly. Walking over to Macbeth and Blakely, he healed them before leaving. He slammed the door behind him.

Some part of Maddox knew that he shouldn't touch the food. Some part of him was screaming that this was a trap—that if he took even one bite, he'd never see his family or friends again. The sandwich smelled good, though, and hunger pangs overrode logic.

"Maddox!" Kent yelped.

"I don't care if it kills me," he said through a mouthful of turkey-bacon-swiss. "But, if you must know, I don't think it will."

"How do you figure that?" Macbeth asked quietly. He'd broken a rib, and it was bothering him to talk at all.

"He likes to play with us too much."

* * *

The walls had holes in them. That was what stood out as Maddox walked with the group into the large room. The chains were pulling them along—signaling where to walk. When they finally stopped, there was a horrible stench in the air, probably coming from the large cauldron about fifty yards in front of them. Then he looked up. "Tonks!" His captain was caged, suspended above the cauldron, and looked to be unconscious.

"She was causing quite a ruckus," Rhydian said. He was standing on a platform that was connected to the wall. "I'll wake her up now."

A second later, Maddox released the breath he was holding as he saw Tonks stir.

"Now," Rhydian started. "This is the way to your freedom. You see before you a table with your wands. Once you have retrieved them, you must make your way through the maze and save your captain. You see that the rope holding her cage is…frayed, at best. Time is of the essence! Those of you alive at the end may leave. You may begin."

The chains disappeared. The team threw glances at each other, but walked forward to pick up their wands. Maddox took Tonks's and stuck it in the pocket of his jeans.

"Well?" Blakely asked.

"We need to think," Price said.

"We don't have time to think," Kent growled. He headed into the maze, wand raised.

Maddox felt the ground rumble and dashed after him. "Kent!" he yelled, pulling the older man back just in time. A spike shot up from the ground at the place where they'd just been. Another came out from the wall, but they rolled away in time.

The team made their way slowly across the field, dodging the spikes and other traps Rhydian had set for them. Every so often, one of them would send a hex Rhydian's way, but he always managed to dodge. They weren't going to make it in time at the rate they were going. Maddox made a decision. "_Expecto Patronum!_" he shouted. An elephant charged from the end of his wand, triggering the spikes on the left side of the wall. It was as he'd suspected—they were triggered by movement, and it didn't necessarily have to be human. He climbed the first set, and began jumping from spike to spike, dodging curses. He could hear the team following behind him, shooting shields his way to protect him as he made his way to the front of the maze. He came to a gap in the spikes, and, wondering why he hadn't done so to begin with, ran on the top of the wall. He made it to Tonks and levitated her wand up to her. Unfortunately, the rope snapped at that moment. "_Depulso_!" he yelled, knocking the cage back toward the wall of the room. He breathed a sigh of relief as it missed the pot, but was knocked off the wall the next second by a curse. Winded, but unhurt, he propped himself up and saw what none of the team had yet noticed. The cauldron was tipping. "GET ON THE WALL!" he yelled. His warning to the team cost him dearly. He'd made it to the first spike when he felt burning hot liquid sear his legs and back. He slipped, falling into the rapidly flowing current. He felt it burning his face, his eyes, his lungs, before succumbing to the darkness.


	26. Road to Recovery

**Theater of the Mind**

_Tonks opened her eyes to see Ginny sitting next to her. "Where am I?"_

"_St. Mungo's. How are you feeling?"_

"_God awful."_

"_Just relax, you're safe."_

"_Kingsley tell you what happened?"_

"_Most of it. He's the one who came to get me. Said you'd been hurt." _

"_How long have I been out?"_

"_You got here on Saturday night," Ginny explained. "It's Monday afternoon now."_

_Tonks rubbed her eyes and tried sitting up. The room spun and her stomach swam. _

_Ginny gently pushed her back into the pillows. _

"_What happened?" Tonks asked, closing her eyes again._

"_When you fell—"_

"_I fell?"_

_Ginny nodded, not meeting Tonks's eyes. "Maddox shot a spell to get you out of the way of the poison. When you fell, you bounced inside the cage. You broke all of your ribs, an arm, both legs, a lung collapsed, and you punctured your appendix. Blakely had to take that out herself, or else you wouldn't have made it."_

"_Where is she?" Tonks asked, eyes darting around._

"_With her family in the next room. She's fine. The Healers aren't allowing visitors right now—just immediate family and spouses."_

"_What about the rest of the team? Kent?"_

"_Fine."_

"_Price? Macbeth? Tippin?"_

"_They're fine too, but Tonks…."_

"_Where's Maddox?" Tonks asked quietly. She saw her wife's expression change—Ginny was mustering her courage to tell her something. "Please, Ginny."_

"_The cauldron was rigged so that it would flood the maze, Tonks," she explained. "After he knocked you out of the way, Maddox fell off of the wall. He only had time to warn the others before the cauldron fell."_

"_He'll be okay though, right?" Tonks asked, panic coloring her voice._

_Ginny shook her head, clearly fighting tears. "He fell into it, and inhaled it. It burned his lungs. Kent…Kent brought his body back."_

_Tonks turned her head and looked out of the window, tears stinging her eyes. "He was only 25."_

"_Tonks," Ginny said, sitting on the bed. "Please, I know this is hard, but you can't get stressed. The Healers said you can't exert yourself."_

_Tonks nodded, wiping the tears away, but did not turn to look at her wife. "And Swanson? What happened to him?"_

"_Tippin's a hero. Killed the bastard. When Blakely was performing your emergency appendectomy, he climbed back onto the wall and kept fighting. Got him in the end."_

"_Ah, our Auror is awake," a Healer said, coming through the door. "My name is Healer Maddison. How are you feeling?"_

"_My head hurts," Tonks moaned._

"_I'm sure," Maddison said. "You fell from thirty feet in the air, in a steel cage. I'm surprised you're doing so well. We'll be keeping you here for another day or two, just to monitor you. You should be just fine in a day."_

"_Thanks," Tonks said in a hollow voice. She took Ginny's hand and closed her eyes again._

_

* * *

_

Tonks shook her head, ridding herself of the memory—at least for the moment. She stepped onto the scale and waited for the numbers to stop floating about. "106," she told Ginny with a smiled. She stepped off the scale and walked over to where her wife was recording her weight. "How am I doing?" she asked, wrapping her arms around the younger witch.

"Very well! You're eating again, and you've gained some weight back. I'm sure Healer Maddison will be ecstatic at your checkup."

Tonks smiled and snuggled into the pillows with her. She remembered the first time she'd seen herself in the mirror after she'd woken up in the hospital. She hadn't recognized herself. Her eyes had been sunken, her face gaunt, and she'd been skinny. When the Healers had finally allowed her to go home, she'd leveled out at 100 pounds. They'd given her strict instructions to keep a food and weight journal over the next week, to make sure she was gaining the weight back. Ginny had been wonderful, cooking all of Tonks's favorite things—Cornish pasties, shephard's pie, every type of pasta imaginable…. Slowly, but surely, Tonks was gaining her weight back. Hugging Ginny closer, she asked, "What's on the schedule for tomorrow, besides the…the funeral?"

"After that we're going to my parents' house for dinner. According to Dad, it's only going to be us, them and Harry. Luna's in Germany visiting her father for the weekend."

Tonks nodded and yawned.

"Tired? You should get some sleep."

"It's only eight o'clock."

"You aren't allowed to over exert yourself," Ginny said, giving her a Look. "We can read for a while, if you want."

Tonks smiled and got under the covers as Ginny went to grab a book.

* * *

A wall of purple from the Auror department, friends, family—rows of people—with tears coming down at all different volumes, sat as the casket was lowered into the ground.

Mr. Maddox stood up and addressed them. "Many of you didn't know this, but my son, Alexis Ilya Maddox, was an extraordinary cook." He paused, giving the crowd a sad smile. "Since the age of seven, you could find him tailing after his mother in the kitchen. Some made fun of him for it…including me from time to time…but he didn't care. He'd found something he wanted to do, and he did it. When he got to Hogwarts, I regularly received owls, letting me know that someone had found my son in the kitchens, experimenting while the house elves were otherwise occupied. He never let anything stand in the way of his passion. His seventh year, he got very sick. We thought…we thought we were going to lose him. But he turned the corner, fighting back as only Alexis could. As we were leaving St. Mungo's, he took a deep breath and said, 'Da? Mam? I want to be an Auror when I get through with Hogwarts.' We objected, of course. How could our son have picked such a dangerous career? Didn't he know how much we'd worry? But, just like with his cooking, Alexis had found his passion. And he wouldn't let go of it. He passed his exam, and became a great Auror very quickly—which is why he, and we, had to go into hiding when the war broke into the open. He hated that we had to do it, but he never once regretted his decision. And he knew, somehow, that the good side would win. Even so, my wife and I were always afraid of the one day, the one mission, where he wouldn't make it out." Mr. Maddox stopped, struggling to continue. "That day came last Saturday," he said tremulously. "And do you know something? I finally understood my son. Completely, and utterly, understood. The day we'd been dreading was the day he'd wanted. Death, certainly, is a part of life which no one among us can escape. My son knew this at the age of 17, and he dedicated his life to keeping others safe. You see, my boy knew that if he was going to die, he was going to do so making a difference. And I truly believe, with all of my soul, that he did."

Tonks choked back a sob with difficulty. She felt Ginny slip her hand into hers as the Maddox parents thanked everyone for coming, and invited them back into the house for refreshments.

* * *

"You doing okay?" Ginny asked quietly as they walked up the front drive to the Weasley home.

Tonks nodded. "Yeah. As much as can be expected."

The door swung open, but it wasn't Molly or Arthur who ran to greet them. It was Harry. He rushed towards them and grabbed them both in a hug. When he finally pulled away, he said, "Sorry. I had to get that out of my system."

With a smile, both witches followed him into the house.


	27. Moving Forward

_**LbN: I'm baaaack! Happy reading!**_

The first of August came quickly. Ginny smiled brightly as the children came rushing into the office. She'd missed them more than she'd realized.

"We thought we'd scared you away!"

"Are you coming back for good?"

"Did you start writing yet?"

"How's Tonks? I read in the Prophet that she got hurt."

"When is the book going to be done?"

"Do we each get our own chapter?"

"You said we each get another interview. What are we talking about now?"

Ginny held up her hands against the onslaught of questions. "Whoa, hold on," she said. "No, you didn't scare me away. Yes, I'm back for good. No, I haven't started writing yet. Tonks is fine. I have no idea when the book will be done. I'm breaking the book up by years, not by stories, but you'll all see yourselves in it. Speaking of, I've been meaning to ask you, do you want your real names printed? I've spoken with various Ministry officials, and with Mrs. Longbottom, and they've all assured me that it is perfectly legal to identify you in the book. However, with all you've been through, I'd understand entirely if you want to remain anonymous."

"What's 'anominous'?"

"Anonymous means that even though everyone will know your story, they will not know your name."

"What do you think we should do?" Chogan asked.

Ginny was quiet for a moment. "In all honesty, I think you should keep your names to yourselves."

"Because people won't adopt us if they know we're cracked?" Damien ventured cheerfully.

"Because I don't want you to have to go through what Harry went through as a kid," Ginny said.

"Harry? Harry Potter?"

"Yes. Everyone knew him, and he frequently lamented the fact. He couldn't be normal—couldn't walk into a bookshop without making the front page," she said with a smile, echoing her former enemy, Draco Malfoy. "I want you all to have normal lives once you're adopted. I want you to be able to go to Hogwarts without people whispering about you. It gets old after a while," she added.

"Can we pick our own fake names?" Stacia asked excitedly.

"Sure!"

For the next half hour, Ginny sat in fits of laughter as the kids threw out different names for each other. In the end, they'd had some pretty fantastic jokes and arguments, but hadn't come up with anything that stuck.

"I still think Damien should be Alfonsus…" Chogan muttered, smirking.

"How about you lot take the weekend to think it over? I'll be back on Monday to talk to you again. These are going to be shorter, so I think we'll double up on interviewing days. Justin and Stacia on Monday, Damien and Nikki on Tuesday, and Chogan on Wednesday. We'll have a group chat on Thursday, and take Friday off."

There was a general murmur of consent at this.

"Wonderful. You may all go back to class now."

She followed them out into the hallway, where she was surprised to find two familiar faces. "Tonks! Remus!"

"Wotcher love," Tonks said, hugging her and ruffling Justin's hair. "Kingsley's still got me on bed rest, so to speak, so I'm escorting one of the munchkins to the Ministry, instead of doing field work."

"You found someone's family?" Ginny asked excitedly.

"A close friend of the family, actually," Tonks explained. "She'd been looking for the boy for quite a while now. She wrote to the Ministry with his description a while back, but we just now got through the Missing Persons logs. We've checked her out and she's on the level."

"Who are you taking?" Remus asked.

"Aaron. One of the first we recovered. Have to go get him now."

"He should be in the music room," Justin said. "I'll take you, if you want."

"Cheers!" She gave Ginny a kiss on the cheek and followed Justin down the hall.

Once they walked off, Ginny stood astonished, as Chogan wrapped Remus in a hug. She saw him take a deep breath before standing back and regaining his usual king-of-the-school attitude. "I expect you'll want to check up on Dylan. She's in the math classroom."

"Er…thank you. Are you well?"

"Very. The potion's working wonderfully."

"Good," Remus said, clearly relieved. "Good seeing you, Ginny."

"You two, Remus." She waited until he'd walked off a good way before saying to Chogan, "It's not him."

"Don't know what you're talking about," Chogan muttered.

"Remus isn't your dad. But I'm sure your stellar nose told you that," she added with a gentle smile.

"Yeah…. I was just…"

"Curious. I understand." She paused for a moment, but decided she needed to know something that was burning in the back of her mind. "Chogan…are you… do you worry at all? About your dad coming back, I mean."

It was the mark of how far he'd come—how far they'd all come—that he answered without hesitation. "All the time. Remember when we went to the zoo? How Dylan was annoyed with me because I wouldn't let her out of my sight? I don't want him to get near her, but I'd rather…."

"If he comes back, you'd rather he took both of you, than just one," Ginny finished. She knew this sentiment well—it was something George had told her many times in the days following Fred's death—the idea that one could not survive without the other. She nodded at him and squeezed his shoulder. She knew him—he didn't want wordy comfort. Just to know that she was there was good enough. "I'm going to track down my better half. I may come back tomorrow."

"See you, then."

* * *

It had taken a good two hours for Hermione to explain the spell to her, but Ginny had gotten it in the end. She went to the WOH early that morning, and beckoned Chogan and Dylan from the breakfast table. Handing each of them a pendant on a necklace, she explained, "I know you're worried. These are to get in touch with me and Tonks if you ever need us. These are for emergencies only, understand?"

Both children nodded, putting the necklaces on.

"Good. Now, I think I'll join you all for breakfast," Ginny said.

* * *

Tonks dropped some papers into Kingsley's mailbox and walked down the hall to the elevators. After a few minutes shuffling and jostling, she was on Remus' floor. She knocked gently on his door and was told to enter. "Wotcher, mate."

"You're worried about something," he said, nodding to a chair and pulling out his tea set.

"Chogan and Dylan. You were underground for a good part of the war… how many werewolves were truly involved with the Death Eaters?"

"A fair few, but the majority just…listened intently. They were ready for the world Voldemort was promising, but not willing to fight for that world yet. In total, there were about 50 here in England, and some outliers. You have a theory…."

"We both do. And I think Chogan has the same one, he's just afraid to say it out loud."

"What has Ginny learned about their father?"

"That he kept in contact with their mum, and smelled like cheap tobacco and an unwashed animal."

Remus sighed. "It could be anyone."

"I hope it's anyone."

"But you don't think so."

With a dejected look, Tonks shook her head. "I've kept up with Death Eater patterns of movement for years now. Ginny's got the kids' full story…. I think their dad is Greyback."


	28. Duels and Deals

**Theater of the Mind**

The Auror Department's version of the Knight Bus sped through the streets of Edinburgh. Tonks nodded awake. She could never sleep on these things. It didn't matter, though. In an hour or so, she'd be home, in her own bed, sleeping soundly. She got up and walked to the front of the bus. "Alright, Toby?"

"HOW many times do I have to tell—" the young driver began.

"I know, I know. Call you Jack," Tonks corrected herself. "Toby's not that bad of a name, you know."

"In my humble opinion, neither is Nymphadora."

"Your humble opinion is delusional."

Jack laughed. They had this fight every time he picked them up. "Should be there in about 15 minutes."

"Cheers, mate." She made her way back to her seat and gazed absently out the window. Checking her watch, she saw that it was already one in the morning. It had been an absolutely _chaotic_ week. She thought back to the conversation she'd had with Kingsley a few days before. The one that had, unbeknownst to him, led the team to this point.

* * *

"_Wotcher Kingsley," Tonks said, closing the office door behind her. "What did I do this time?"_

_Kingsley chuckled and shook his head. "Guilty conscience?"_

"_No…. Just figured I'd check. What's on your mind?"_

"_You're doing brilliantly, Tonks," he began. "I never thought I'd have half of the most wanted criminals in the Wizarding world dealt with this quickly. How are you feeling? Is the team ready to get back into the field?"_

"_I think so," she replied. "Price is still… he talked to me about a transfer yesterday. I know he wants to keep going with us—just asking me about transferring was killing him—but I don't know if he has it in him. Not after… after Maddox."_

_Kingsley nodded. "You have anyone in mind to replace him?"_

"_Maybe Kellar. Or Mitchell."_

_There was silence in the office for a long moment. An owl zoomed in, deposited a letter, and flew back out of the open window. Kingsley took a moment to look at the senders name before turning his attention back to Tonks. "And what about you?" he asked quietly._

"_What about me?"_

"_Tonks…you can't stay in the field forever…."_

"_But I'm certainly not harboring any intentions to retire within the next year…or five."_

"_I'm not talking about retiring."_

_Tonks gave him a hard look. "Kingsley, I like it where I am. I love. This. Job. And…" she paused. She hadn't even admitted this next bit to Ginny. "And I'm not one hundred percent yet, I know. I still have nightmares about the castle. I can still hear Blakely and Maddox scream—I can still see their injuries. But we signed up for this. We knew the dangers. I know the dangers. And I'm ready to keep going."_

_Kingsley nodded. "I'm sure you are. But I think you should at least start thinking about the next stage of your career."_

"_Don't say that!" Tonks whinged. "It makes me sound old. I don't want to be cooped up behind a desk all day, Kingsley!"_

"_I wouldn't do that to you. I was thinking of the training centre, actually. You're the perfect type to train the next generation of Aurors, Tonks. You don't want to wait until you absolutely can't do the job anymore to leave the field. Because then you _will _end up stuck at a desk all day. You want to end at the top of your game—with options open to you."_

"_I know, Kingsley. But I don't consider this point the top of my game. When we bag the rest of these cretins—that's the top."_

_Kingsley huffed—the first time Tonks had ever heard him make a sound of annoyance. He'd obviously thought he'd have an easier time of talking her into this. "Give me one good reason not to force a transfer."_

_Tonks smiled. _

* * *

Tonks yawned. She led the group through the quiet halls of the Ministry, and into one of the elevators.

"Shouldn't we be in the third one?" Mitchell asked quietly. He'd been fantastic on the trip, but a little hesitant to speak his mind. As the last to join the group, it was to be expected.

"We're not going downstairs just yet," Tonks explained, smiling. "Got to check in with the boss first." A few minutes later, they were in the administrative half of the Auror department, knocking on Kingsley's door. He called for them to enter, but Tonks held up a hand. "I'll go in first." She stuck her head inside the room.

"Tonks?" Kingsley asked. "What is it?"

"Remember how you said to give you one good reason not to transfer me?"

"Yes?"

* * *

_The inn was dark and crowded. Most of the tables had been taken up already. Burly men sat playing cards or talking over mugs of different alcoholic substances that could probably coat roads. It was business as usual. The innkeeper nodded at Tonks, and filled a glass with a more tolerable drink. "Think it'll start 'round about eleven," he whispered, as she leaned in to pay. "Room seven."_

_Tonks nodded. "Any children in the place tonight?" she asked._

"_No. Haven't seen any for the past two weeks. Strictly potions, it's been."_

"_Right, then. Thanks Billy." She took her drink to a table where Mitchell and Osherly (the two newest members), and a disguised Kent sat. "Everything's set," she said, sipping her ale. "We just have to wait."_

_The night passed quietly. They sat and played cards like the rest of the clientele, pausing for a bit of dinner, and restroom breaks. Every so often, one of the cards on the deck would flash green, signaling the entrance of a target. Finally, at exactly eleven o'clock, the cards in Tonks' hand turned orange for a split second. She glanced out of the corner of her eye as a man walked in. _

_He stopped at the bar and ordered a few drinks, then proceeded down the hall with them. He nudged the door to room seven open and entered. _

_Tonks stood up and stretched. There were still, of course, plenty of people milling about the lounge. This was a well know stop for traveling wizards, so the team couldn't hope for an empty fighting arena. "Back in a jiff," she told the other three. She went into the bathroom and locked the door. Quickly, she sent a Patronus to Tippin, Blakely and Macbeth, who were guarding the perimeter. She got an almost immediate response. _

"_Looks like this is going to be a longer meeting," came the voice from Macbeth's peacock. "Wait about half an hour. We'll light your cards if something starts to go down."_

_The next hour was one of the fastest Tonks had ever experienced. You didn't usually get entertainment on a stakeout/mission, but with the abundance of happy drunks in the building, there was a wealth of it that evening. After two more games of cards, a lively song and dance number by a few very sloshed wizards, and a little bit of fireside storytelling, it was time. _

"_Best be going, chaps," Tonks said, standing up. _

_The assembled group groaned as the four undercover Aurors said their goodbyes. _

_They quietly walked down the hall and put a spell on the entrance to it so no one else would be able to get through. Tonks dropped to her knees and put her wand slightly under the door. "_Nebulus quiesco_," she said. A green vapor shot from her wand, and she stood up and nodded to Mitchell. _

_With a grin, he kicked in the door. _

_It was pandemonium. Those closest to the door had gotten the full blast of Tonks' spell, but the others were fighting back. Blue, purple, green, and orange flew around the room as the two groups struggled to gain the upper hand. Potion bottles exploded right and left. Tonks levitated the bedside table and threw it into two of the smugglers. "Petrificus totalus!" she yelled, as one raised his wand again. She heard a scream to the right and looked up. _

_Kent had subdued a smuggler, but another had made a potions vial burst in his face. He sank to the ground, sending up blue sparks with his wand—the signal that he'd live, and they should keep fighting. _

_The other three Aurors burst in through the window at that moment, adding to the confusion. It was over in another three minutes, with the wreckage of the room smoldering around them. They were careful to clean up any spills that Macbeth said were particularly dangerous. _

"_Kent," Tonks said softly. She flinched when she rolled him over. His face was covered in thick, scaly welts. "He's unconscious. Signal the bus, and we'll take him to St. Mungo's before processing the vermin," she said, nodding at the pile of Petrified potions smugglers. _

"_Captain Tonks?" Mitchell said quietly._

"_You're on the team now," she told him. "You can ditch the 'Captain'. What's up?"_

"_I think this is the bloke we're looking for…."_

* * *

Tonks led Magnus Koch into the office, followed closely by the team. "Here you go."

Kingsley stared at her, openmouthed.

"It was Mitchell who found him," she explained. "We had a bit of a shoot out. Most of the potions were destroyed, and Osherly has the ones that weren't."

"Well done, all of you," Kingsley said brightly. "We'll make the morning Prophet with this. Take him down to lock up. We'll transfer him in the morning. And get some rest, you lot!"

The team left with the criminal (the rest were chained to the wall outside).

Tonks waited until they were down the hall before closing the office door. "I've been thinking about what you said. That stuff about leaving at the top."

"Yes?" Kingsley said slowly.

"I'll make you a deal. You let me finish out this mission—bring this last blighter in—and I'll transfer to the training unit. But I have to be a part of this. I want to be there when we catch Greyback."

Kingsley nodded. "You've got yourself a deal."


	29. Friday Night

_**LbN: This and the previous chapter happen concurrently. Forgot to put the date on the last chapter... :)**_

Ginny put her leftover soup away and stretched. She was enjoying having Fridays off, though she would've liked it far better if Tonks had been back. Thankfully, she had been reassured by Kingsley that this mission was almost sure to be easier than the last one.

The clock chimed 7:00.

She walked over to where the Pensieve sat on the middle of the table. Even though Fridays were her day off, Ginny had reviewed all of the memories she'd collected before her break, and gone through her notebooks. She knew she should call it a night—maybe take a walk, or go find a pick-up game of Quidditch. On the other hand, the week had been the most productive so far. The memories the kids had given her were specific, and important to them. Damien's, in particular, had been rather telling. She'd seen a change in him before, after he'd given her the memory of his mother, but now the change was impossible to overlook. He'd laughed for the first time that she'd ever seen. There was a sort of brightness to him, to all of the children, that reassured her that she was indeed helping, not harming.

The new memories were the first ones into a new potions case. They sat swirling on the top row as Ginny set her kitchen timer for two hours. Two hours, then she'd stop for the weekend.

Justin's was first.

* * *

"_Now approaching: St. James' Park."_

"_Justin, are you sure about this?" Damien asked. "We could do it, you know. We could find…"_

"_They almost found us!" Justin hissed. "We can't be safe if we stay together."_

_Damien nodded morosely and leaned against a rail. Two men jostled him as they made their way to the door. Others stood, readying for their stops. _

_The doors opened, and a man grabbed Justin's shoulder. "Reckon we found one, Zimmer!"_

_The boys' eyes went wide as they noticed the two men with wands and Ministry patches hovering over them. _

"_Oi…ain't they the ones what got out of St. Mungo's?" the man named Zimmer asked. "I think they are Farris, mate."_

"_Doors closing."_

_Justin let out a yell as Damien pushed him out of the train. The bag with all of their food in it landed next to him. He whimpered as he watched the train speed away, his friend trapped inside. He struggled to his feet, choking back sobs. _

_A woman helped him stand up and handed him a five pound note. "You're another one. One of the lost ones."_

_Justin wiped his eyes on his sleeve. _

"_I've seen a few more of you. You're one of the lucky ones—had someone looking after you. You'll see your friend again." She made as if to walk off, but turned back. "I don't know what's going on, but I know you're not safe on your own. Can't I help you?" she whispered._

_Justin looked up. People were staring. Wordlessly, he shook his head and backed away._

* * *

_The money and food had long since run out. The Tube Lady's five pounds had been the first of a series of kindhearted gifts, but they hadn't lasted long. Justin crawled out from under the bench and wrapped his blanket up and stuffed it into his bag. He'd gotten into a routine of rising before the sun to beat the police—he had to leave the park or they'd catch him. He'd had a few close shaves a week back, but he wasn't up to running today. He hadn't eaten in three days. _

_The parks were beautiful at sunrise. Full of birds, and bugs, and most importantly, they were quiet. He'd developed quite a fear of noise. In the crowded London streets, it was harder to hear someone following you. In the silence, you could be on alert, without really trying. He wandered through the different sections, listening as the city awoke. By the time his stomach really started to rumble, the buses were going, there were joggers passing by him, and the police were making their rounds. Justin sighed. He walked to the nearest grocery store and stopped just across the street. He hid his bag in between a post box and a wall, and walked across. _

_The smells of fresh baked doughnuts and coffee wafted toward him. He nearly cried. Damien was always the one that stole the food if they needed it. But this had to be done. He walked into the corner store, mindful of the disapproving eyes of the shopkeeper. He smiled at the man, hoping he didn't look as dirty as he felt. After using some of the hand sanitizer on the wall, he grabbed a doughnut bag and filled it with regular cake doughnuts. He picked up two juices, a bottle of water, and some dried fruit. Breathing heavily, he inched his way toward the door, making it look like he was browsing the Muggle magazines. He could tell that the shopkeeper was keeping step with him, ready to cut him off before he bolted. He'd never make it out with all of the stuff—probably only the doughnuts and juice if he was lucky._

_The door jingled. A large, richly dressed man walked in and smiled down at him. "Goodness son," he said, patting Justin on the head. "I didn't know the mention of doughnuts could get you to move so fast. Why don't you put all of that on the counter so I can pay?"_

_Justin stared at him. He noticed a patch, but it wasn't a Ministry one, or a Snatcher one. But still, it seemed familiar. Taking his chances, he scooted past the man and set his loot down on the counter. It was when the man took out his wallet that Justin noticed that he had his, Justin's, bag. _

_By the time they got outside, Justin was ready to bolt—breakfast be damned. _

_The man seemed to realize this and put his hands up. "Whoa there… I saw you were about to get caught, so I stepped in. Here." He put the juice and fruit into the bag, and handed Justin the doughnuts and water. "You look hungry. Listen carefully, Justin—the war is over. I've been looking for you, and other kids like you. I'm an Auror. Voldemort is dead. We've won!"_

_Justin stood shaking all over. "Really?" he whispered, doughnut halfway to his mouth. _

"_Yes. Why don't we sit, and I'll tell you all about it?"_

* * *

Ginny waved her wand and turned off the timer. Tonks was right—she was addicted. There was no way she'd get through these in an hour, and she was getting through them tonight, so help her Merlin. She gently placed Justin's memories back in the vial, and grabbed Stacia's. Pouring it into the Pensieve, she took a deep breath, and entered.


	30. Friday Night pt 2

**_LbN: This chapter alludes to child abuse. _****_Nothing graphic, but _****_skip Nikki's memory if that kind of thing freaks you out. _**

"_Stacia, I'm hungry…."_

_The little girl next to Stacia clung to her. "I know. But you remember what the guards said? You-Know-Who is dead. It can't be long now. We won't stay here forever."_

_A thud next to them made everyone jump. A boy had fallen to the ground._

"_It's Andrew!" Stacia said. "Help!" she yelled, running to the bars._

"_I can't get through," another girl said. She was in the cell across from them, and looked older. Every time she tried to squeeze through the bars, they would emit purple sparks. "Stacia, is there anything in your cell you can dump on him?"_

"_I could pee on him," another boy suggested. "Other than that, no."_

"_Max, please try to get out," Stacia pleaded. _

"_I'm trying!" the girl named Max said. She was all but dropkicking the bars now. _

"_HELP!" Stacia yelled again._

"_Don't hurt your voice," a small boy said. "It's no use. No one's coming."_

* * *

"_Get away from the bars!" Max ordered quietly, as the dungeon was flooded with light. "Big ones stay in front of the little ones."_

_Men's voices floated down to them. Light shone into the cells._

"_Oh my god…Tippin…it's kids! Those bastards were keeping kids down here!"_

"_Shhh!" Tippin said. "Keep your voice down, and watch your language!" He made little balls of light hover inside each cell. "Kids? Can you all hear me?"_

_There were a few quiet yeses. _

"_My name is Andre Tippin—I'm an Auror. We're here to help you. The Death Eaters are gone. We're going to find as many of your families as quickly as we can. First, I need to know if anyone's sick."_

_Stacia raced to the bars. "My friend Andrew! He fell down this morning and we can't wake him up!"_

_Tippin unlocked the cell and strode in, pulling a face at the smell. He kneeled next to the boy and ran his wand over him. "Shipley! Call the medics down here, quick! How long has it been since you've eaten?" he asked the group gently._

_Some of them shrugged, others just stared._

"_Three days, sir," Max called. "At least, I think."_

"_Thank you," Tippin nodded at her. He carried Andrew out of the cell and placed him on the ground. Conjuring a cot, he levitated the boy up the stairs. "I'm going to unlock the cells now," he told them. "Please, all of you, come out and sit. We'll take you somewhere warm, with food. If any of the rest of you have friends who are sick, or if any of you feel sick, stand by your door and raise your hand. More friends are on their way."_

* * *

Ginny stretched. The clock struck 10.

* * *

_Damien shivered. What had he been thinking? Breaking into a Muggle house for food…. Well, at least there had been some place to hide, even if that place was the attic. __After escaping the Snatchers on the train, he'd take what he could get. He listened closely for the sound of the car's wheels crunching over the gravel. They'd leave for the day, and he'd be able to go downstairs, and eat, and get warm. _

_Sure enough, only thirty minutes later (though it seemed a lifetime to his hungry belly) the husband call out his goodbyes to the kids and the wife. The first car left. Within the next twenty minutes, the mom had rounded up all of the kids, and the second car was gone. _

_Damien pushed the door to the staircase open. He tiptoed down the hall, in case anyone was home sick. No one was there. Tucking his wand into his jeans pocket, he ran the rest of the way to the kitchen. The dad had cooked spaghetti last night—he knew, because he'd smelled it once when it was cooking, then again when the teenager had a midnight snack. It had been torture. He grabbed the bowl of leftovers, emptying part of it onto a plate. He stuck it in the funny buzzing oven and punched 100. He'd found that 100 did the trick for most things. When it dinged, he snatched a fork from the drawer and took the plate out. He ate quickly, afraid that someone would come back and find him. In his haste to rinse his plate, he dropped it. "No!"_

_The plate came back together. _

_He breathed a sigh of relief, but only momentarily. For the next second, he was surrounded. _

"_We were hoping some of you had wands," a man said jovially. "You made it easy for us."_

"_Stay away!" Damien screamed, backing into the counter and pointing his wand at the man. _

"_Easy son," a woman said. "We're not here to hurt you. We're not Snatchers."_

"_You're lying!"_

"_I'm not," she said. "Here." She put her wand down on the counter and took a few steps back. The others did the same. "Since you've been tucked up here in this Muggle house, you probably ain't heard the news yet. You-Know-Who is dead. Harry Potter took care of him, he did. We're Aurors, and we need to take you somewhere you'll be safe."_

_Damien lowered his wand. "If you're going to hurt me…"_

"_We won't."_

_He looked warily around at the men. They seemed to get the gist and backed off, taking their wands with them. He was still as the woman approached. "Where will you take me?"_

"_Somewhere you'll have friends."_

* * *

"_Afternoon, Hannah! Neville!"_

"_Hello, Magdalena! Who do we have here?" She stood up from where she and a few other children were helping Neville in the garden. _

"_His name is Damien. We found him hiding in a Muggle house. He'd come down from the attic for a snack when we got to him."_

_Damien shrank behind his Auror. "You mustn't leave me," he pleaded quietly._

"_I promise," Magdalena said. "You'll be quiet happy here. Hannah is a wonderful witch. And her husband, Neville, teaches at Hogwarts! You'll get to see him often in a few years time."_

_The man named Neville came over, taking off a necklace of some sort. He held it so Damien could see the pendant. "Always get this dirty when I garden with it on. Maybe you could hold it for me today?"_

_Damien took it and read "Dumbledore's Army". He nodded._

"_Magdalena," Hannah said slowly. "Do you know his last name?"_

"_Sorry, Hannah. He's a quiet one."_

"_Damien, is your surname Swafford?" she asked._

_Damien looked sharply up. "How do you know me?"_

_Hannah let out a joyous yelp. "Follow me!" she said excitedly. She led them into the building and up some steps. She knocked on the door and peeked inside. Smiling at Damien, she said, "I think someone will be very happy to see you."_

_Damien went through the door she held open for him. He couldn't believe his eyes. "Justin?"_

_The other boy looked up from the book he was reading. A second later, he had sprinted across the room and tackled Damien into a hug. He was sobbing hysterically. "You're alive. You're alive…."_

_Damien held him, staring straight ahead with a sunken, haunted expression. He never cried, but when Hannah tried to gently pull them apart, he clung to Justin fiercely, as if determined to never let go._

* * *

Ginny still got the willies at the next memory. No, that was an understatement. The next memory made her want to vomit. It was Nikki's. She'd known very little about what happened to the girl after the Ministry. This cleared things up marvelously, even if it did make her want to go to Azkaban and Crucio this woman into the next century. She poured the memory in.

* * *

"_Faustus! Nikolai! What have I told you about pulling Nikki's pigtails?" the woman snapped. This was Nikki's adoptive mother—a pureblood looking for a halfblood to call her own. "You will behave, or I shall punish you!"_

"_Sorry Mother," the twin boys said, before vacating the room. _

_The woman turned to Nikki and smiled gently. "Your brothers just aren't used to having a girl around. Don't worry—they'll stop." She kneeled in front of Nikki, taking the child's face in one hand. She stared at her, as if inspecting for defects. "You're far too pretty to be a halfblood," she said. "Perhaps they were mistaken. Perhaps I have three perfect pureblood children." She smiled in a way that made Ginny's stomach churn. "But no…. you're not perfect, are you? No matter. You will learn. No one will ever guess that you have common Muggle blood running through your veins." She picked Nikki up and sat her in one of the large chairs at the table. A second after ringing a small silver bell, a house elf appeared. "Cookies and tea for the little one. Coffee for me, Blinky."_

"_Yes Miss!"_

"_We'll have a family history lesson, shall we?"_

_Nikki stayed quiet, fidgeting nervously._

"_You shall answer 'Yes Mother' when I ask you a question, Nikki."_

"_Yes, Mother."_

"_Very good! Now… Your grandfather's name?"_

"_Cygnus Aristos Podgings."_

"_Good, and your grandmother's name?"_

"_Amelie Podgings."_

* * *

Ginny exited the memory. She couldn't watch. Even though she couldn't actually see it, Nikki had told her what had happened. Whenever Nikki had gotten a question wrong, the woman would give her a shock between the legs. Ginny remembered Hannah telling her that Nikki had significant scarring, and now she knew why. Luckily, the girl hadn't been there long. The Aurors had found them about a week after she'd gotten there. Small favors…

The clock struck 11:30. She only had Chogan's memories left. The first was of him walking with Dylan to the WOH. Ginny didn't know what the second one was. She'd run out of time to look at them yesterday. She was about to pour it into the Pensieve when a hazy dog floated down from the ceiling.

"Hermione's in labor!" came her brother's voice.

"In labor!" Ginny yelped. "She's only seven and a half months…." She realized she was talking to herself and shook her head. Putting the memories away, she grabbed her wand and her cloak and Disapparated.


	31. The Lake

_**LbN: Few more chapters left! Happy reading!**_

Tonks dropped her bag right next to door and, resisting the urge to crash on the couch, walked to the bedroom. She stopped in the doorway. Ginny wasn't there. She spotted a soft yellow glow coming from the bedside table and began to panic. She stifled the feeling after a second or two. The downfall of being an Auror—anytime you couldn't immediately locate a friend or family member, pictures of kidnap and Death Eaters popped into your head. Taking a calming breath, she picked up the glowing note and read: _Hermione went into labor. Get some sleep; I'll see you in the morning. Xoxo, Ginny._

Tonks let out a relieved sigh. She wouldn't miss the panic when she was out of the field, that was for sure.

* * *

Hugo Donnovan Weasley was born at exactly six o'clock in the morning on August 8th. Ginny yawned as the family fussed over him. She'd been up all night, and she wasn't handling it as well as the rest of them. She turned hearing the door click open. "Tonks!"

"Wotcher everyone," Tonks said cheerfully. "Sorry I missed all the excitement. How are you feeling, Hermione?"

"Tired," Hermione told her, yawning. She smiled as Molly passed Hugo back to her.

"Let's give the new parents some space," Arthur said. He squeezed Ron's shoulder and led the way out of the room.

Ginny took Tonks' hand and followed them. "When did you get in?" she asked after they got into the hallway.

Tonks kissed her. "Around two or so," she said. "Oh, before I forget, this came for you just as I was leaving." She pulled an envelope out of her cloak and handed it to her. "From Hannah."

_Hi Ginny, _it read,

_I hope I'm not disturbing you. The kids insisted I write. I'm taking some of them to the lake today. We're camping overnight, and going to a Quidditch match tomorrow__ (Cardiff versus Edinburgh). We would love it if you (and Tonks, if she's back) could join us! I understand if you already have plans, but the children wanted me to check. All of your "book kids" are coming, as well as Dylan, Ryan, Cooper, Jill and Eddie. The rest are staying at the WHO with the tutors and going to the museum tomorrow. Send a Patronus and let me know. The address is: Emerald Lake, South Shore- D Cabin._

"You should go!" Tonks said. They'd long been in the habit of reading each other's mail over the person's shoulder. "It'll be good for you to have some fun with them."

"I don't know…" Ginny said, glancing at the door to Hermione's room.

"Hermione and Ron are both about to crash," Tonks reasoned. "It's been a long night for everyone. If they need anything, at least two of us will be here. Go get a nap and go have fun."

Ginny looked around at all of the nodding heads and grinned. "Right then. Are you coming?"

"I have a meeting later today, but I'll meet you lot at the game tomorrow."

"I'll see you then."

* * *

"Dr. Ginny!" Damien yelled. "Watch!"

Ginny watched and clapped as three of the boys jumped off the deck and into the water. Damien apparently had the most control over his untrained magic, because he went out a little farther and floated in the air a little longer than everyone else. "Well done!" she yelled out to them. "I see water exercise is one of their favorites," she mused.

"Goodness yes," Hannah said, applying another sunscreen charm. "If they could come out here every weekend, they would." She was quiet for a long moment, watching the swim race that was taking place. Then she turned to Ginny and said, "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Have you and Tonks talked about it?"

"About…?" Ginny trailed off, catching on. "Oh…a bit."

"You'd both make great moms! And all of the kids here love you."

"That's exactly why we've ruled out adoption for now. I'm too attached—we're too attached—to all of them. It's like telling your favorite child that they get to live with you, and shipping all the other ones off. I couldn't do it. Not right now at least."

"Yeah…I know what you mean."

The rest of the afternoon passed quickly. Hannah and Ginny tried valiantly to stay on the shore, but were ultimately pulled into a water war involving the two halves of the Lake family. When it became abundantly clear that Dylan and Ginny's team would emerge victorious, Chogan raised the white beach towel, and negotiated a spaghetti dinner into their surrender agreement.

Ginny, who had never been around for the actual preparation of a meal, was surprised to see the clockwork efficiency with which Hannah's kitchen was run. The oldest children got to assist with the cooking that didn't involve flames or knives, and the youger ones set the table and carried water glasses out. She sat at the opposite end of the table from Hannah, and quickly found that she had to eat strategically, so as not to choke on her food from laughter. Apparently, Hannah had turned all of the children except Nikki and Justin, both originally from Wales, into Scottish Quidditch super fans. The resultant trash talk was a wonder to experience. Especially since Justin and Nikki seemed to be winning the debate. Ginny was impressed with their Quidditch knowledge.

"Mrs. Longbottom, are we going to have a story?" Nikki asked when all of the plates were cleared.

"I suppose," she said, smiling. "Any ones in particular?"

There was an explosion of noise as different fairy tale suggestions were hurled at the two witches. Somehow, it was decided that "The Witchling in Red" would be told first. Hannah waved her wand and dark shadows appeared on the wall, forming the silhouette of a young girl. "There was once a young girl who lived with on the edge of a great wood. One day, the girl's mother fell sick. She told the girl to deliver a package of potion ingredients to her grandmother. But the girl was a stubborn child, and hated her grandmother more than anyone in the world. Her mother begged the girl to go, for it was a day's walk to the cottage. The girl resisted, until finally, the mother swallowed her pride and told her that the ingredients were to make a potion she needed to stay alive. The girl left at once, but the mother knew she had waited too long. The moon would be full that night—the Wolves would be out. She prayed the little girl would be safe, and make it to the cottage unharmed."

Ginny looked around at the kids. They were all staring transfixed at the wall as the shadows played out the story. The girl in the story walked through the trees, red cape fluttering behind her as Hannah continued.

"The Wolves were indeed out, and as the sun began to sink, one found the girl. He had not transformed yet, and greeted the girl as an old friend. 'There are bandits about my dear' he said. 'It's not safe. Will you allow me to accompany you? Where are you heading tonight?' The girl was foolish, and unguarded with strangers. She told him, 'I'm going to my grandmother's house. She's the sorceress Magdalena.' And the wolf followed her. As the sun sank even lower, the Wolf knew he would transform. 'The danger has passed,' he said. 'I shall leave you to finish your journey alone.' It was then that the girl became suspicious. Being learned in the arts of Magic, she saw into the Wolf's mind and saw his plans. She knew he would beat her to the cottage, and sent a message to her grandmother. The sun set and she finally came upon the cottage. She Disillusioned herself, and walked around the back fence. The Wolf was inside. The girl broke all the windows. She knew she couldn't kill or hurt him, but she could trap him. The wolf chased after her. She ran through her grandmother's garden. There was a well in the middle. She shot a spell and broke the wall and jumped out of the way. The wolf, pouncing, fell into the well. The girl shot a sealing charm, and found her grandmother. Together, they waited for sunrise, and traveled back to the girl's mother."

The wall cleared.

"I always liked that story," a voice behind them said.

Ginny whipped around. It was Greyback.

"But I think I like Muggle version better," he said, sauntering into the cabin. "You see, in their version, the wolf kills the grandmother, and then kills the kid."

Ginny and Hannah both shot stunning spells at him, but he dodged. He barreled into the group of kids, who scattered. He knocked Hannah and Ginny down and grabbed  
Chogan.

"Cho!" Dylan yelled. She started to go after her, but one of the other kids held her back.

Ginny stood up and ran after them. She grabbed Chogan's wand off of the table, and threw it to him.

Chogan, thrown over Greyback's shoulder, caught it and slipped it into his shirt, before Greyback Disapparated.


	32. On the Trail

**Theater of the Mind**

Most of the workers were off enjoying their Saturday, but the few who were present at the Ministry pressed themselves against the wall as Tonks passed. An Auror running down the hall was never a good sign….

She skidded into Remus' office, glad to find him alone. "Greyback has Chogan."

* * *

"How's she doing?" Hannah asked quietly, as Ginny came out of the girls' dormitory.

"Barely hanging on," Ginny said. "I'm going to go through Chogan's memories again, see if there's anything I've missed. Would it be okay if I brought my things back here? I promised Dylan I'd stay close."

"More than okay," Hannah said, nodding. "I'll set up the attic room for you. It's cozy—the tutors stay there sometimes when they're here working late."

"Thanks. Be back in a jiffy."

* * *

Chogan sat against the bars of his cage, knees tucked up against his chest. He could feel his wand in his shirt. It would have to be hidden somewhere else before long. He stared out at the two wolfmen as they talked.

"Son's a scrawny little thing, innit he?" one said.

"Yes…" Greyback answered. "Been spoiled by wizards. It doesn't matter. We'll get him ready."

"Food!" someone growled from the doorway.

Chogan retched as two more men brought in a wagon full of raw meat in various stages of decay.

The others laughed. "My son," Greyback announced, voice laced with contempt. "Pay him no mind. He's been brought up to think he's a wizard—to eat real food."

Chogan tried his best not to hyperventilate, or worse, cry. The rotten meat made the whole room reek. And some of it looked… _human_.

Greyback seemed to know what he was thinking. "Don't worry…. He's an old softie, Macdougal. Only kills tramps."

Chogan nodded, but stayed quiet. He wasn't going to talk until he had to. He shivered as the men began to eat. "_Meal one without wolfsbane_," he thought.

* * *

"You're not going, Tonks," Kingsley said sternly. "You've been in this department long enough to know that we don't let anyone close to the kids investigate the kidnapping."

"This is different, Kingsley!" Tonks nearly shouted. "You put me on this team, made me captain of this team, to bring five people in—Greyback's one of them! I know I'm closer to Chogan that the rest of the department, but it's not like I'm his mom. Plus, the work Ginny's doing with them probably makes me the best one to go track him down. We know his life through those memories. Ginny's going through them right now. Kingsley, you can't replace me. I need to do this."

Kingsley was silent for a long stretch. Finally, he looked up at her and said, "Fine. I'm willing to let you go under two conditions."

"Those are?"

"First, that you communicate nightly by Patronus. I know you're used to having free reign and only reporting in after you've returned, but I want to be in the loop on this one. Second…you take Remus with you."

Tonks quirked an eyebrow at him. "Well, I'm fine with that. Actually, I'll be glad to have him with us. But why?"

"He knows the underground werewolf communities better than anyone, except Douglass. Douglass is out sick right now, so Remus it is. You'll need him."

"I'm sure of it."

* * *

"Is there anything else?" Ginny asked gently. Dylan had come to see her as soon as she'd come back to the WOH. "Any…weird things that happened while you were in hiding? Any time you thought someone was following you, or watching you?"

"No…nothing," Dylan said quietly.

"Alright. Why don't you go to dinner. I'll be down in a few. I'm going to start going through the memories again."

"Okay… Dr. Ginny?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think he's dead?"

Ginny's heart broke at the emptiness in Dylan's voice. "No. No, I'm sure he's not. Go on, get to dinner."

* * *

The cage door opened, and Greyback jerked his head as if he wanted Chogan to come out. He closed the door behind the boy and handed him a bag. "Eat."

Chogan looked inside. It was a normal sandwich, some crisps, and a drink. "I don't have to…you won't make me…."

"Eat like us? No, we're used to it. You're no use to me if you get food poisoning. Eat."

Nodding, Chogan sat down on the floor and ate. He scanned the room as he did, hoping to spot a hiding place for his wand. He'd been lucky that no one had found, or seen, it yet. The room wasn't promising. It was mostly moldy sleeping mats, and a small card table. He'd have to keep looking.

* * *

Ginny exited another memory, frustrated. It really wasn't giving her anything she didn't already know. Well, that was the third one. She was about to go grab something from the cafeteria when Dylan ran into the room, followed by Hannah.

"I remembered!"

"What?" Ginny asked, looking up at Hannah.

"I didn't think of it earlier, because I don't have a memory of it. I was sleeping for most of the time."

"What are you talking about?" Ginny said, feeling anxious.

"Have you looked at the last memory he gave you?"

Ginny blinked. She hadn't. In all of the chaos, she'd completely forgotten that there was one memory she hadn't seen at all yet.

"I think it's important," Dylan explained. "Chogan brought us here, but it took about a day. The night before we got here, we had to stop. Chogan didn't want to. He said he didn't think it was a good area. But I was falling asleep, and he couldn't carry me. So we stopped at a mansion."

"Dylan, that's brilliant!" Ginny said. "I'll look right now. Go back with Hannah." She went to her case and uncorked the last memory.

* * *

Chogan's head was swimming. Back in his cage again, he was trying to get some sleep. But he'd been without his potion for too long, and he could feel it wearing off. He closed his eyes again, willing the wolf inside him not to come out.


	33. Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

**Theater of the Mind**

"_We're almost there," Chogan muttered. "Come on Dylan. It's just ahead."_

"_I thought you didn't want to stop there."_

"_I don't. But we both have to rest, and I think…I think it'll be safe. We'll just have to leave as soon as we can in the morning."_

_They walked through a sprawling lawn, overgrown with weeds. There were cracks in the cobbled walkway, and it looked as though no one had touched the place in years. _

_Except for the door._

_The door, Chogan noticed, was perfect. The wood polished, the hinges oiled. This was the place. The thought didn't comfort him at all. He took a deep breath through his nose, and looked around sharply._

"_What?" Dylan whined. "Can't we go in."_

"_Yeah," Chogan said, opening the door. "Just keep you voice down." He jumped at the sound of a wolf, and pulled the door shut behind them._

Ginny exited the memory, breathing hard. She grabbed her wand, and sent a Patronus to Tonks.

* * *

"You act like you don't like it here," Greyback said. He grinned at Chogan as the other men laughed. "You liked it well enough before."

"So this is the place?" Chogan asked.

"Aha," Greyback said to the group. "He remembers. It was brazen of you to bring your sister here that night. Especially when you knew it was a den. One of us could've eaten you."

"We needed a place to stay," Chogan said. "We didn't bother anything. And we left as soon as the sun was up."

"Yes," one of the others said. "But you still owe us."

"Owe you what?" Chogan asked, unconsciously taking a step back.

"Rent, son," Greyback said with a cruel smile. "Do you think everyone just stays here for free? We all pull our weight."

"I was only here for a night," Chogan insisted.

"With a guest. So we'll count that as two. Two nights means…two fights. That seems fair, yes?"

"Fights?"

The older men chuckled. Greyback strode forward and placed a hand on Chogan's shoulder. "Don't worry," he said. "You'll probably make it out alive."

* * *

Tonks blasted a path through the overgrown weeds and vines. "This place is deserted," she said. "Rundown, and the door's completely rotted away."

Remus nodded. "She's right," he told the team. "Not even werewolves have been here for some time."

"Let's get back to the—" Tonks started. She trailed off when she saw a ghostly horse float down to them.

"Tonks," Ginny's voice came. "Ask Remus if there are any dens in mansions. Chogan's last memory was of the place they stayed the night before they made it to the WOH. I think he knew it was a den before they got there, and I think Greyback found them that morning—but they didn't realize it. He's known where they were all along. The mansion in the memory was gothic style. It had a huge lawn that was overgrown with weeds, and a cobblestone walkway leading up to the door. The door was mahogany wood, with iron bars that made a kind of Celtic cross design on it. The handle was polished brass."

"Ring a bell?" Tonks asked.

"Just outside of Brighton," Remus said, holding out his hand. When the team had a hold of him, he Disapparated.

* * *

"Hurry up, puke!"

"Hey!" Greyback said. "Don't push my son. He needs to be roughed up, then I'll do it."

Chogan walked down the steps into the dungeon. His heart picked up pace as he saw the blood stained walls. "Will I… have to fight you?" he asked Greyback.

Greyback laughed. "If I wanted to kill you I would've done it to begin with. You'll be fighting your kind—half-wolves."

Looking around, Chogan noticed more boys his age. They all had scars, and some had patches of hair ripped out.

"It's simple," Greyback explained. "The last one standing wins. Got it?"

"I don't want to."

"Do you really think you have a choice?" Greyback snarled. "Sit here, until I come to get you."

Chogan did as he was told. No one was really paying attention to him. To his left, he saw a loose floorboard. He slid down and slipped his wand under it. Praying no one found it, or somehow broke it, he stood up and walked around to the boys he'd soon be fighting. His head was splitting. Every hour that passed, he grew more aware of the 'tantrums' building inside of him. He shook his head to clear it, and spoke to the nearest boy. "I'm Chogan."

"Sam," the kid said.

"How old are you?"

"Eleven."

Chogan's eyebrows flew up. He would've guessed sixteen.

"I know," Sam said. "But the fights take a lot out of you. The stress ages you. I even have a grey hair."

"So…you've won a lot of fights?"

"Won and lost. You want to win though. Our dads aren't very forgiving. Getting your arse beat twice in one night isn't pleasant."

"But….How are all of you here? I mean, I thought werewolves didn't have kids."

The boy behind Sam laughed. "You think these guys are registered with the Werewolf Protection Committee? Why would anyone know about us?"

"How many are you?"

"About fifty," Sam said. "But the girls don't fight."

"Er…hate to be gruesome, but…?"

"Nah, they leave the girls alone. Actually, it's only the girls without mums who stay here. They make them cook, the ones who eat real food, but that's it. Most of us only have our dads now. They tend to kill their mates after we're born—assuming the baby is a son. If the first kid is a girl, they usually let the mum live."

Chogan made a face.

"I know. But it's all we have."

A bell made all of them turn. Greyback and another wolf were standing in the center of the room. Everyone was backing up to give them room. It made a large oval, once everyone was in place.

"Son!" the two werewolves called.

The boy behind Sam got down from his bench and, sensing Chogan's hesitation, grabbed him by the shoulder. "Don't think about anything," he muttered as they walked. "Just react. Don't worry about hurting me, or me hurting you. We heal quickly. Just fight."

As Chogan was more or less dragged to the center of the group, he notice how sharp the other boy's nails were. "What's your name?" he whispered.

"I'll tell you later." He pushed Chogan away from him and got into a fighting stance. "Don't think," he mouthed to him.

The bell rang again, and the boy rushed at him.

* * *

"Is this it?" Tonks asked.

"Yes," Remus said. "I can hear them."

"What should we do?" Mitchell asked.

"Wait a bit," Remus said. "There's too much commotion down there. Wait until some of them leave to hunt."

"I'm calling in the reserve team," Tonks said, sending a Patronus into the air.

* * *

Chogan couldn't move. He didn't know what hurt worse, his side or his face.

"Clean him up," someone said.

"Sure Father."

Chogan opened one eye and saw the boy he'd fought and Greyback staring down at him.

"Pathetic," Greyback said. "But at least you didn't get killed. You'll learn." He stood and walked out of the dungeon, slamming the door behind him.

The boy wiped his face with a wet cloth. "You really gotta learn to react. Or at least duck." He tore off a piece of bandage and taped it to Chogan's side. "I'm Luka."

"Er…Luka?" One of the girls said. She was standing on a table, looking out of the low window. "There are wizards outside."

"What?"

"One of 'em has purple hair."

"Tonks?" Chogan muttered. "Luka, tell everyone to get away from the window." He sat up with difficulty and hobbled over to the row of wooden bleachers. Finding his wand he got onto the table with the help of Luka and Sam. "Does anyone have a jar?" he asked.

Someone ran into a back room and came out with a jar of peaches. Chogan dumped them out and lit a bluebottle flame inside of the jar. Placing it in the window, he moved it slowly back and forth, hoping Tonks would notice it.

* * *

Tonks did notice it, but unfortunately, so did Greyback.

"Remus! Stun him!" Tonks yelled as they fought the wolves that were swarming out of the mansion. "Mitchell, go get Chogan!"

* * *

"Do they lock this place?" Chogan asked urgently.

"No. They know they can hunt us down if we run."

"Open the door," one of the girls said. "I'll go see what's going on."

"I'll go with you," Chogan told her.

"You're barking, mate," Sam said. "You're hurt."

"Chogan!" they heard.

"WE'RE DOWN HERE!" Chogan bellowed, then flinched. Everything still hurt. "Get away from the door, everyone."

The kids scattered. A good thing, too, because the next moment, the door flew in. Mitchell and a few other Ministry wizards rushed in. "Dear Merlin."

"It's a long story," Chogan said. "Can we go?"

"There's too much fighting, Mitchell," one of the wizards said. "We'll never get them out by bus or broom."

"Side-Along Apparation, then," Mitchell said. "Take three at a time and come right back."

* * *

Tonks struggled to her feet. Her ankle was definitely broken. She leaned against a tree, surveying the carnage. "Nice work, everyone," she said, gasping for breath. "Remus, you think you could heal me?"

"Of cour—Don't move!" he shouted, raising his wand.

Tonks lost her balance and fell to the ground. Looking up, she saw Greyback looming over her.

"Already had one Auror for dinner tonight," he said, nodding over to where Kent lay bloody and broken. "I don't need another. Maybe I'll just turn her."

"Get away from her," Remus said, advancing on Greyback.

"Try and make me."

* * *

"All of them?" Hannah asked breathlessly.

"Every one," Mitchell said, nodding. "Remus and the others are going to have quite the time sorting this lot out. Luckily, we at least have names of fathers. That's a start. And a few of them still have mothers left."

"I'll set up sleeping bags in the cafeteria. There are a few beds left in the girls' dormitory. How many girls are there?"

"Only about fifteen. I'll send the youngest up there, shall I?"

"Good plan."

"Mitchell," Ginny began. "Where's Tonks?"

"Overseeing cleanup, I expect. They'd gotten the lot subdued when I went back to get the last few kids."

* * *

Remus didn't shoot a stunning spell—he knew better. Instead, he shot a severing charm at the two trees.

Greyback, who was standing, couldn't get out of the way in time. The branches came down on his head, and he was soon trapped under the trunks.

Tonks had scooted away when she saw them falling. "Thanks," she said breathlessly as Remus helped her up. "I really owe you lunch now."

Remus chuckled and helped her over to the Medi Wizards. "One day, I'll take you up on that."

* * *

The kids from the den were all given Wolfsbane Potion before they went to sleep. Ginny watched as they chose sleeping bags and settled in for the night. "This is a whole new can of worms," she whispered to Hannah.

"I talked to one of the girls. It was just for sport," Hannah said, disgusted. "They raised these boys to fight, purely for entertainment."

"I'm just glad we found them. It's going to take a lot to help them over this."

"The oldest is Chogan's age," Hannah told her. "We're going to tutor him here. I don't think he even wants to go to Hogwarts, and at any rate, he's two years behind."

Ginny sighed. "Mitchell said Tonks is back. I'm going to go see her."

"Alright. I'll see you Monday. Or Tuesday, if you want. I'm sure the kids wouldn't mind waiting a day to start back."

"I'll let you know."

**_LbN: Reviews make me happy! One more chapter to go!_**


	34. Epilogue

_**LbN: Wow... It's almost been a year, but I finally finished. For those of you who stuck with me, thanks! Hope you've enjoyed the ride. :)**_

Flourish and Blotts was packed with witches and wizards of all ages. Tonks squeezed through the crowd, trying to not let anything hit the two year old in her arms. She turned when she heard someone call her.

"MUM! We're up here!"

Looking up, she saw Stacia waving at her. She smiled and fought her way back to the stairs. "Have you been here all morning?"

"No," Stacia said. "Mummy let me walk around Diagon Alley. Chogan and Dylan were with me, though, so it's okay. Can I hold Teddy?"

"Where are Chogan and Dylan now?" Tonks asked, passing Teddy to her.

"Trying to score food at the Leaky."

"Should have known…."

"They should be back any second. Mummy's about to come out."

A storm of applause signaled Ginny's arrival. She stood at the podium with her publisher and editor and waved for silence. "Thank you all for coming out today. I'd like to start out by talking a bit about the book. Then I'd be happy to take questions, and sign books for everyone."

"This project, when I started, was mostly about seeing the War through children's eyes. I believed that kids would have a unique perspective on the horrors of war, but what I didn't realize was the scope of it all. This book is not light reading. For the most part, it won't make you feel good. But it is important. The stories inside are true, and they are straight from the memories and interviews of the children that lived them. It's frightening, really, to think that our world came through this. However, these children are an example of the resilience of people, and of the hope humans carry. I'd like to answer questions, if anyone has them."

"Yes, Professor Weasley-Tonks," a Daily Prophet reporter shouted from the back. "In your work with these children, did you find that any of them were severely damaged?"

Ginny chuckled. "If by 'damaged' you mean broken or evil or psychotic, then no. But any time any of us come through something traumatic, we lose a piece of ourselves. These children have lost family, friends, the assurance of safety. I'm still working with them to rebuild those feelings of security. But are they damaged? No, they're not."

"Professor, in your book you talk about two siblings who are half-wolves. How are they doing?"

"Thanks to the help of the Werewolf Protection Committee, they, and others like them, are doing wonderfully."

"Are any of the children here today?"

"Possibly," Ginny said slyly. The reporters chuckled, taking that as a yes.

Tonks grinned as she picked out all of them. Damien, Justin and Chogan were grinning up at her from a table in the back. Nikki was now standing next to Stacia, and Dylan was sitting on a pile of books, just a few feet away from Ginny.

"Ma'am, is it true that you and your partner adopted one of the children in the book?"

"It is true," Ginny said. "It was a hard decision at first, because we both love them all. Then they made it very easy on us."

"How so?"

"Well," Ginny said with a laugh. "Two of them are stubborn and refused to let us adopt them."

Chogan and Dylan both gave her a thumbs up.

"Something about wanting to stay on their own. One was adopted by my brother, Charlie, right as we were deciding what we wanted to do."

Damien smiled as his adoptive father came to stand next to him.

"And the other two…well they're holding out for another family," she said with a smile at Hannah and Neville. "So it wasn't really a matter of…er…whittling down the list, so much as which kid felt they were right for us."

"And you have a baby as well?"

"Yes. Our family is very colourful. Literally."

Tonks laughed as Teddy's hair morphed on cue.

"One last question before we get to the signing," the publisher said.

"I have one!" Justin yelled from the back. "Can I be in your next book too?"

The crowd laughed.

* * *

"Didn't think we were ever going to get you out of there!" Tonks said. Evening was falling as the last few people straggled out of the bookshop.

"Well, I did have to do a little shopping," Ginny said, smiling down at Stacia. "Here are your school books."

"Two more days!" the girl said excitedly.

As they walked along the road, Tonks asked Ginny quietly, "Do you remember all of them?"

"All of what?"

"All of their memories."

Ginny stayed silent as they walked into the Leaky Cauldron. She didn't answer until they'd Flooed home. "Yes. Every one."

"And now?"

"Now…" Ginny said, watching Stacia play with Teddy. "Now I think I'm ready to step out of the past."

Tonks hugged her. "Me too."

* * *

_As an orchard when manured produces pleasant trees and luscious fruit, so does a cultivated mind produce pure thoughts and noble actions._

_~WILLIAM SCOTT DOWNEY_


End file.
